"CHARUE"  ALEXANDER 


HILIP  I.  ROBERTS 


^: 


BV  3785  .A4  R6 

Roberts,  Philip  Ilott,  18 

1938. 
"Charlie"  Alexander 


^ 


CHARLIE"  ALEXANDER 


Announcement 

Charles  M.  Alexander 

A  BIOGRAPHY 
By  Mrs.  Alexander 

In  Collaboration  With 

J.  Kennedy  Maclean 

Editor  of  THE  LIFE  OF  FAITH,  London 

To  he  very  fully  illustrated 

Vast  numbers,  circling  the 
world,  who  have  been  won  by 
the  personality  and  inspired  by 
the  great  gifts  of  this  devoted 
leader  in  service  and  song,  will 
look  forward  with  keen  interest 
CO  the  appearance  of  this  inti- 
mate, extended  and  authoritative 
biography,  now  in  preparation. 

Further   announcement  will  he   made 
in  due  course  through  the  press. 


"Charlie''  Alexander: 

A  Study  in  Personality 


By 

PHILIP  I. 'ROBERTS 

Author  of  ^' The  Dry  Dock  of  a  Thousand  Wrecks; 
''The  Three  Rs  of  Rescue  Mission  Work,"'  etc. 


^He  set  our  heart-strings  strumming.^'' 

—John  McNeill. 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming   H.  Revell   Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave, 
London :  2 1  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      75     Princes     Street 


CHARLES  M.  ALEXANDER  died  at  "  Tennes- 
,  «ee,"  his  home  in  Birmingham,  England,  October 
13,  1920,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age.  The 
news  of  his  unlooked-for  decease  sent  a  wave  of  sorrow 
right  around  the  globe.  Among  Christian  people,  es- 
pecially those  of  evangelical  predilection,  so  well  known 
and  jbeloved  was  he,  that  it  were  difficult,  if  at  all  pos- 
sible, to  name  a  single  living  man  whose  taking-ofF  would 
occasion  such  universal  regret,  as  has  been  created  by 
that  of  the  world-famous,  singing  evangelist. 

Although  he  had  been  unwell  some  two  weeks  prior  to 
his  decease,  Mr.  Alexander,  on  the  day  of  his  death,  was 
in  his  usual  health  and  genial  spirits.  Indeed,  he  acted 
as  best  man  at  the  marriage  of  an  old  friend.  He  retired 
to  rest  as  usual,  and  slept  for  an  hour  or  so.  About  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  Mrs.  Alexander  was  awakened 
by  sounds  of  heavy  breathing  and  other  indications  that 
her  husband  was  seriously  ill.  She  hurried  to  his  bed- 
side, but  before  assistance  of  any  kind  could  be  summoned, 
the  spirit  of  Charles  Alexander,  released  from  its  earthly 
tenement,  went  forth  to  meet  its  Lord. 

In  a  tender  word  of  appreciation,  printed  in  a  recent 
issue  of  Record  of  Christian  Work,  Mr.  Alexander's 
old  friend  and  associate.  Dr.  R.  A.  Torrey,  expresses  a 
sentiment  that  has  found,  and  will  continue  to  find,  an 
echo  in  thousands  of  hearts  : 

**  And  Charlie  has  gone  from  among  us !  When  I 
read  the  cablegram  ...  I  felt  such  a  strange  de- 
pression, such  as  I  have  [never  felt  before.  But  the  sun 
is  still  shining — shining  brighter  than  ever.  And  Charlie 
is  still  singing — singing  as  he  never  sang  on  earth  !  " 


Foreword 

THIS  little  volume  is  not  to  be  regarded 
as  anything  approaching  an  ordered,  or 
a  consecutively-arranged,  biography  of 
the  man  of  whom  it  treats.  That,  doubtless,  will  be 
undertaken  later,  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Alex- 
ander. All  I  have  aimed  to  do,  is  to  pay  a  plain, 
personal  tribute  to  one  who,  in  a  degree  far  beyond 
the  ordinary,  compelled  and  retained  my  affection 
and  regard. 

Its  very  obvious  shortcomings  may  be  condoned, 
possibly,  by  an  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  it  was 
compiled  and  placed  in  the  publishers'  hands  within 
a  few  days  of  the  date  of  the  reception  in  New 
York  of  the  news  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Alexander, 
at  his  home  in  England. 

Half  a  dozen  times  during  the  past  four  years, 
Mr.  Alexander  conferred  with  me  regarding  my 
undertaking  the  preparation  of  a  chronicle  of  his 
life  and  work — especially  as  relating  to  its  later 
period.  For  one  reason  and  another,  the  plan  was 
never  carried  out.  Something  of  the  sort  is  now 
attempted  in  the  pages  following.  It  is  done 
very  imperfectly,  but  prompted,  throughout,  by 

7 


8  FOEEWOED 

feelings  of  the  deepest  regret  and  esteem  for  one 
who,  in  a  measure  attained  by  few  men  in  any  time 
or  day,  was  truly,  '*  a  brother  beloved." 

P.  I.  R. 
New  York,  N.  Y. 


Contents 

I.  Song  and  Singer    ....  13 

II.  A  Master  of  Assemblies      .        .  26 

III.  Hymns  That  Have  Helped  .        .  47 
IV  At  Northfield       ....  63 

V.  The  Pocket  Testament  League  .  69 

VI.  The  Man  as  I  Saw  Him  ...  88 


Bonnie  Charlie's  now  awa' 
Safely  o'er  the  friendly  main; 

He'rts  will  a'most  break  in  twa, 
Should  he  no'  come  hack  again. 

Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 
Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 
Better  lo'ed  ye  canna  be — 
Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 

Sweet's  the  laverock's  note  and  lang, 

Lifting  wildly  up  the  glen; 
But  aye  to  me  he  sings  ane  sang — 

Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 

Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 
Will  ye  no'  come  back  again? 
Better  lo'ed  ye  canna  be — 
Will  ye  no'  come  hack  again? 

Lady  Nairne. 


SONG  AND  SINGER 

ABOUT  half  a  century  ago,  the  modern 
Gospel  song,  as  distinct  from  the  choicer 
poetry  and  statelier  measure  of  the  older, 
time-honoured  church  hymn,  began  to  occupy  a 
prominent  place  in  the  exercise  and  ritual  of  evan- 
gelical Christian  worship,  in  both  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain. 

The  institution  is  distinctively  American  in 
origin,  and  right  from  the  time  of  its  inception  and 
introduction,  this  country  has  held  foremost  place, 
in  point  of  numbers  of  composers,  and  quality  of 
composition.  Men  of  indubitable  musical  ability 
turned  hand  and  talent  to  the  writing  of  Gospel 
songs,  that  attained  world-wide  vogue,  and  which 
have  been  sung  wherever  the__Gospel  message  has 
been  proclaimed  in  this,  and  other  lands. 

Nearly  all  of  these  men  have  gone  to  sing  a 
higher,  nobler  strain.  They  have  their  successors, 
of  course.  Yet  the  recalling  of  their  names 
prompts  the  reflection  that  the  Gospel  hymn  writ- 
ers of  to-day  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  the  peers 

13 


14  SONG  AND  SINGER 

of  those  of  an  earlier  time.  One  thinks,  for  in- 
stance, of  George  F.  Root,  James  McGranahan, 
W.  H.  Doane,  Robert  Lowry,  Ira  D.  Sankey  and 
George  Coles  Stebbins.  Of  these,  Mr.  Stebbins 
only  is  left  and  he  (now  in  his  seventy-fifth  year), 
still  gives  to  the  world  such  tuneful,  lilting 
melodies  as  have  been  associated  with  his  name. 

Among  these  notable  Gospel  singers,  some  at- 
tained fame  and  success  as  composers,  some  as 
soloists,  some  as  choir-leaders.  A  few  of  them 
filled  the  triple  role,  while  others  shone  in  the  dual 
capacity  of  composer  and  singer.  Conspicuous 
among  the  latter  stands  Ira  D.  Sankey.  It  is  not 
easy,  if  at  all  possible,  at  this  late  date  to  write 
anything  fresh  about  the  man  whose  name  English- 
speaking  peoples  will,  in  all  probability,  efiPectually 
perpetuate.  His  songs  have  engirdled  the  earth, 
and  under  their  influence,  tens  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women  have  been  brought  to  God.  His 
work  (like  that  of  his  greater  associate,  Dwight  L. 
Moody)  still  follows  him,  and  exerts  a  positive 
influence  in  the  religious  activities  of  America  and 
Great  Britain,  down  to  the  present  hour. 

Yet  great  as  was  Sankey's  success  in  the  utiliza- 
tion of  the  Gospel  song,  as  a  means  of  carrying 
a  message  of  enheartenment,  solace  and  salvation, 
it  has  (although  in  a  different  sort  of  fashion) 
been  quite  outdone  by  the  work  achieved,  during 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  by  Charles  M.  Alex- 
ander. 


SONG  AND  SINGER  15 

Unlike  Sankey,  Alexander  was  not  a  master  of 
Gospel-song  composition.  He  wrote  little,  if  any- 
thing,— at  least  I  have  never  heard  any  of  it  ren- 
dered. He  had  not  a  good  ''singing"  voice — as  a  so- 
loist he  did  not  shine.  Yet  despite  these  limitations 
— if,  indeed,  they  can  be  regarded  as  limitations 
in  one  otherwise  so  richly  dowered  with  enviable 
gifts — he  succeeded  in  becoming  the  most  pic- 
turesque, the  most  attractive,  the  most  definitely 
and  uniformly  successful,  the  best-beloved  singing 
evangelist  this  generation  (or  possibly  any  other) 
has  yet  known. 

More  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  I  heard 
James  F.  Oswald,  a  parliamentary  candidate  for 
Oldham,  one  of  the  greatest  industrial  centres  in 
Great  Britain,  make  the  following  statement: 

"  In  a  constituency  of  this  sort,"  he  declared, 
"  no  man  possesses  a  Chinaman's  chance  to  win 
an  election  until  the  people,  when  speaking  of  him 
one  to  another,  get  into  the  way  of  using  an  inti- 
mate variant  of  his  Christian  name." 

The  accuracy  of  Oswald's  appraisement  of  the 
situation  was,  ultimately,  amply  vindicated  by  his 
winning  both  the  affection  of  the  entire  city  and 
the  election,  while  long  before  the  contest  was  over, 
everybody  in  the  place  was  calling  him  "  Jimmie." 

It  were  a  simple  matter  to  cite  many  an  instance 
furnishing  supporting  evidence  of  the  elemental 
soundness  of  James  Oswald's  psychology.     Prac- 


16  SONG  AND  SINGEE 

tically  all  of  us  have  noted  how,  in  men  whose 
work  has  been  of  a  public  character,  successful 
achievement  and  a  popular,  even  affectionate  use 
of  their  Christian  names,  have  gone  together;  and 
that,  too,  without  any  unwarranted  seeming  fa- 
miliarity being  exercised.  The  simple  explanation 
is,  of  course,  that  such  men  have  not  only  com- 
manded our  admiration,  but  crept  into  our  hearts. 

To  men  of  this  order,  Charles  McCallon  Alex- 
ander unquestionably  belonged.  In  the  mind  and 
on  the  lip  of  thousands  of  his  fellow-mortals,  he 
was,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
"  Charlie  "  Alexander.  Scarcely  anybody  used  his 
fvrst  baptismal  name,  and  fewer  still  so  much  as 
knew  his  second.  He  was  just  "  Charlie  " ;  and  to 
men  and  women,  everywhere,  his  untimely  taking- 
off  has  come,  not  merely  as  the  passing  of  one  who 
in  his  particular  sphere  of  work  had  literally  no 
peer,  but  as  of  a  brother  beloved,  leaving  them 
"  sorrowing,  most  of  all  .  .  .  that  they 
should  see  his  face  no  more." 

"  At  the  time  Charlie  Alexander  '  arrived,*  '*  said 
John  McNeill,  in  the  brief,  yet  beautifully-phrased 
address  he  delivered  at  the  prayer-service  held  in 
the  Presbyterian  Building,  New  York,  a  day  or  so 
after  the  news  of  Mr.  Alexander's  death  reached 
these  shores — "  at  the  time  Charlie  Alexander  '  ar- 
rived,* some  of  us  thought  we  knew  just  all  there 
was  to  know,  concerning  the  methods  best  adapted 


SONG  AND  SINGER  17 

for  catching  and  holding  the  attention  of  large 
masses  of  people,  brought  together  for  evangelistic 
purposes.  Then  Charlie  came,  and  we  found  we 
had  to  begin  all  over  again.  He  just  put  the  plus 
on  everything. 

"  Over  in  Britain,  yonder,  Moody  had  taught 
us  much — more  than  we  ever  thought  anybody^ 
could  teach  us — and  what  he  taught,  abides  to  this 
hour.  But,  by  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
a  generation  had  arisen  which  knew  not  Moody. 
Then  Charlie  came  into  our  work,  and  into  our 
hearts.  He  took  the  old  country  literally  by  storm. 
Differing  in  every  outward  way  from  Moody,  from 
Sankey,  from  Torrey,  from  Chapman — always 
unique,  always  himself — he  conquered  the  English 
and — greater  marvel  still ! — the  Scots ! 

"  I  recall  as  though  it  were  yesterday,"  Mr.  Mc- 
Neill went  on,  "  the  trepidation  with  which  I  an- 
ticipated his  coming  to  Scotland,  and  the  effect 
some  of  his  methods  might  be  calculated  to  have 
on  our  dour,  solid  Presbyterians — and  if  Presby- 
terians are  not  solid,  what  are  they? — only  to  wit- 
ness him  conquer  his  vast  audiences  north  of  the 
Tweed,  as  easily  as  he  had  vanquished  those  in 
Birmingham,  London,  Wales  and  the  north  of 
Ireland.  And  always,  mind  you,  working  within 
the  lines  and  bounds  of  the  Old  Evangel — instan- 
taneous, complete  salvation  through,  and  by,  the 
crucified  and  risen  Son  of  God. 

"It  would  have  done  your  eyes  good  to  have 


18  SONG  AND  SINGER 

had  them  watch,  as  mine  did  many  a  time,  some 
solemn,  long- faced  elder  eyeing  Charlie  as 
he  began  to  get  the  folk  into  the  swing  of  the 
Glory  Song — to  watch  that  elder  soften,  relax, 
smile  and,  presently,  commence  to  roar  out  the 
chorus  as  lustily  as  any  laddie  in  the  place.  And 
his  wife  along  with  him!  " 

How  sound  and  accurate  this  summarizing  of 
Alexander's  methods  is !  How  many  times  those, 
into  whose  hands  these  pages  are  likely  to  come, 
will  have  seen  him  do  just  the  very  thing  the  genial 
Scotsman  here  describes !  He  had  an  unsurpassed 
genius  for  exactly  this  kind  of  work.  He  was  a 
musician,  more  by  nature  than  culture,  and  had 
learned  the  secret  of  awakening  the  music  which 
so  often  lies,  silent  and  latent,  in  the  hearts  of  an 
audience.  To  this  gift  must  be  added  the  simplic- 
ity of  his  own  religious  beliefs,  the  contagious 
glory  of  his  religious  fire,  the  unquestionably  mag- 
netic element  in  his  look  and  voice.  All  these 
qualities  combined  themselves  in  Charles  Alex- 
ander's equipment,  and  effected  results  such  as 
have  not  been  approximately  approached,  let  alone 
parallelled,  by  any  other  man  of  his  time. 

"  Charlie  "  Alexander  realized,  too,  that  there 
is  something  unspoiled  and  elementary  in  men  and 
women,  everywhere,  no  matter  what  of  educa- 
tional, social  or  sacerdotal  overlay  they  may  adopt 
or  acquire. 

"  Every  audience  I  ever  faced,"  he  told  me, 


SONG  AND  SINGER  19 

on  one  occasion,  "  proved  sensitive  and  amenable 
to  a  tone  of  sympathy,  and  the  touch  of  friend- 
liness and  genuine  feeling." 

Perhaps  the  most  conclusive  proof  of  the  ac- 
curacy of  this  assertion  may  be  found  in  the  fact 
that,  considered  in  all  their  aspects,  his  greatest 
successes  were  achieved  within  the  confines  of  the 
British  Empire — among  reserved  and,  ordinarily, 
unemotional  peoples,  possessed,  for  the  most  part, 
by  a  tangible  distaste — almost  a  dread — of  any- 
thing savouring  of  gush  or  sentimentality. 

Yet  Alexander  appealed  to  the  British  in  ex- 
traordinary fashion.  He  literally  got  under  their 
skins,  and  demonstrated  how  very  human  the  Brit- 
ishers are,  in  spite  of  their  impassive  demeanour, 
and  lent  additional  colour  to  the  ancient  saying 
that  "  one  may  find  a  tender  heart  even  under  the 
mask  of  a  sphinx."  I  have  never  been  able  to 
eliminate  from  my  memory  the  scenes  I  witnessed 
in  the  Royal  Albert  Hall  in  London — tears  rolling 
down  the  cheeks  of  stolid,  English  business-men, 
and  of  wealthy,  blase  worldlings  as  their  owners, 
in  spite  of  themselves,  fell  under  the  irresistible 
spell  of  this  smiling  young  American,  leading  his 
choir  in  songs  which,  intrinsically  perhaps,  bor- 
dered on  the  purely  emotional,  if  not  the  senti- 
mental, but  which  in  the  hands  of  this  accomplished 
master  of  assemblies,  became  a  probe  which  pierced 
the  armour  of  repression  and  indifference,  which 
touched  the  very  core  of  the  heart. 


20  SONG  AND  SINGEE 

"  Charlie  "  Alexander  was  a  typical  Southerner. 
Nobody  having  once  heard  his  "  Bless  the  Lawd," 
trumpeted  out  in  that  clarion-noted,  resonant  voice 
of  his,  ever»  afterwards  questioned  the  fact.  He 
was  born  in  Tennessee,  on  the  banks  of  Cloyd's 
Creek — not  far  from  the  town  of  Maryville,  and 
within  sight  of  the  foot-hills  of  the  Cumberlands. 
"  The  sole  recreation  that  seems  to  have  been  in- 
dulged in  by  the  Cloyd's  Creek  population  was  the 
singing  of  Gospel  hymns,  which,  as  they  rang 
through  the  valley,  made  their  first  but  lasting  im- 
pression upon  the  mind  of  a  child,  destined  by  God 
to  become  the  greatest  of  all  song  leaders."  * 

"  How  did  you  find  your  place  in  Christian  serv- 
ice, Mr.  Alexander?"  the  evangelist  was  once 
asked. 

"  God  just  showed  it  to  me,  I  guess,"  he  an- 
swered seriously,  "  just  as  He  has  shown  it  to 
many  another  man.  Here  is  how  it  came  about: 
When  a  young  fellow  in  my  teens,  I  was  earning 
my  living  as  a  school  teacher  in  North  Carolina. 
One  day  I  unexpectedly  received  a  telegram  from 
my  home  in  Atlanta,  announcing  the  serious  illness 
of  my  father,  from  which  he  was  not  expected  to 
recover.  I  hurried  home,  and  during  the  journey, 
began  to  reflect,  more  seriously  than  I  had  ever  re- 
flected before,  on  the  seriousness  and  inevitableness 
of  death. 

"  My  father's  death  did  not  occur  for  more  than 
*"J.  Wilbur  Chapman:  A  Biography." 


SONG  AND  SINGER  21 

a  week  after  I  reached  home,  and  during  those 
seven  days  my  whole  outlook  on  the  things  which 
relate  to  time  and  eternity  underwent  a  complete 
change.  Among  other  things,  I  began  to  realize 
something  of  the  value  of  a  human  soul.  The 
night  on  which  my  father  died  is  the  one  to  which 
I  look  back  definitely  as  the  date  of  my  conver- 
sion. I  had  to  cross  the  city  on  foot  at  a  late  hour, 
and  as  I  trudged  along,  the  thought  kept  recurring 
again  and  again  to  my  mind — '  Is  my  father's  soul 
safe  in  heaven? ' 

"  Of  course  I  knew  he  had  been  a  professing 
Christian,  an  elder  in  the  church,  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing.  Still  the  thought  would  not  down — '  Is 
my  father  safe  in  heaven? '  In  the  travail  of  my 
spirit  I  turned  to  God,  and  as  I  walked  along  the 
streets  of  Atlanta,  I  prayed:  '  O  God,  if  by  token, 
or  vision,  or  impression  there  is  any  way  whereby 
Thou  canst  vouchsafe  assurances  to  the  creatures 
Thy  hands  hath  made,  give  me,  I  pray  Thee,  to 
realize  the  certainty  of  my  father's  being  safe  at 
home  with  Thee.'  I  prayed,  as  men  generally  do, 
when  forced  into  desperate  straits — in  faith,  be- 
lieving. And  the  answer  came,  as  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly as  any  answer  ever  came,  to  myself  or  any 
one  else:  'Your  father  is  safe  with  Me.' 

"  The  load  of  doubt  lifted  immediately  from  my 
heart.  I  looked  up  towards  the  stars,  and  right 
there,  under  the  open  sky,  pledged  myself  and  life 
to  the  service  of  my  Master  and  Lord.     Then  and 


22  SONG  AND  SINGEE 

there,  too,  there  came  upon  me  a  yearning  desire  to 
lead  men  to  Christ  which  has  never  since  died  out 
of  my  heart.  At  times  this  desire  has  burned  high 
— a  white  hot  flame ;  at  others  it  has  burned  low — 
almost  smouldered.  But  never,  from  that  night 
on  the  streets  of  Atlanta,  has  it  ever  spluttered  out 
completely.     And  I  pray  God  it  never  will. 

"  The  great  longing  to  save  souls  which  came 
upon  me  that  night  led  me  to  begin  to  look  'round 
in  order  to  discover  how,  and  by  what  means,  I 
could  best  help  men  and  women  into  the  Kingdom. 
I  decided  that  my  work  lay  along  the  line  of  sacred 
song.  I  conceived  the  notion  that  a  Gospel  hymn 
could  be  converted  into  a  sermon  on  wheels,  as  it 
were ;  and  as  time  went  on,  became  more  and  more 
convinced  that  by  its  instrumentality  people  could 
be  reached  and  saved.** 

It  has  proved  to  be  a  great  boon  to  this  genera- 
tion that  "  Charlie  '*  Alexander  not  only  became 
convinced  of  the  potentialities  of  the  modern  Gos- 
pel song,  but  proceeded  to  act  on  his  conviction. 
From  Mar3rville,  he  went  to  the  Moody  Bible  In- 
stitute, Chicago.  Here  he  remained  for  nearly 
four  years,  preparing  himself  for  his  life-work. 

During  his  sojourn  in  Chicago,  the  great  World's 
Fair  was  held  in  that  city,  and  the  young  song- 
leader  had  his  share  In  the  extensive  and  Important 
work  set  afoot  and  accomplished  at  that  time  under 
the  leadership  of  Dwight  L.  Moody.  Among 
others,  he  worked  with  John  McNeill,  the  Scottish 


SONG  AND  SINGER    .  23 

evangelist,  who  has  testified  with  great  tenderness 
and  genuine  feehng  to  the  happy  associations  he 
shared  with  "  Cha-a-r-r-lie/'  now  nearly  thirty 
years  ago. 

During  the  eight  years  following  his  leaving  the 
Moody  Institute,  Mr.  Alexander  was  busily  en- 
gaged in  evangelistic  work.  He  speedily  became 
known  as  a  song-leader  and  choir-conductor  of 
outstanding  ability  and  originality  of  method.  In 
a  very  short  time  he  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  his 
profession.  Somewhere  about  the  year  1902,  Mr. 
Alexander  began  work  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
R.  A.  Torrey.  The  association  proved  a  par- 
ticularly happy  one,  and  lasted  for  more  than  four 
years.  On  more  than  one  occasion,  I  have  heard 
each  man  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  the  other. 

"  I  have  followed  Doc.  Torrey  around  this 
whole  wide  world,"  Mr.  Alexander  said  to  me  one 
day  in  his  characteristic  way,  "  and  everywhere 
have  I  run  across  influences  he  started  and  work 
he  accomplished  which  abide  to  this  hour.  You 
can  take  it  from  me,  Torrey's  work  lasts."  And 
of  Charles  Alexander  Dr.  Torrey  has  said:  "There 
is  not  a  single  Gospel  singer  on  this  continent  to- 
day, amounting  to  anything  at  all,  who  hasn't  mod- 
elled his  work  on  the  lines  first  laid  down  by 
Charlie  Alexander." 

During  the  term  of  their  co-partnership,  Torrey 
and  Alexander  made  a  tour  of  the  world.  In 
1904,  they  conducted  a  great  Mission  in  Birming- 


24  SONG  AND  SINGEE 

ham,  England.  It  was  during  these  meetings  that 
I  first  saw  and  heard  Mr.  Alexander  at  work.  A 
little  later  I  met,  and  came  to  know  him  person- 
ally, working  under  him  and  Dr.  Torrey  as  a  vol- 
unteer, during  their  great  Albert  Hall  and  Brixton 
meetings,  in  the  English  metropolis. 

As  intimated  in  my  Preface,  this  little  volume  is 
not  intended  as  any  sort  of  a  connected  or  detailed 
biography  of  Mr.  Alexander.  It  is  not  my  inten- 
tion, therefore,  to  attempt  to  set  down  the  details 
of  his  life  and  work. 

All  the  world — at  least,  all  the  world  of  English- 
speaking  evangelism — knows  that  he  married  Miss 
Helen  Cadbury,  a  daughter  of  the  well-known 
English  family  of  that  name,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century;  that  owing  to  her  protracted  illness, 
his  connection  with  Dr.  Torrey  was  compulsorily 
terminated;  that,  in  the  early  months  of  1908,  he 
became  associated  with  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman, 
and  that  together  they  carried  out  their  first  great 
campaign — the  Mission  in  Philadelphia. 

Then  followed  the  Australasian  tours,  their  trip 
to  the  Orient,  their  united  labours  in  Canada,  Great 
Britain,  and  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 
For  eleven  years  these  two  great  evangelists 
worked  in  unbroken  harmony,  being  the  means, 
under  God,  of  bringing  thousands  of  souls  into  the 
fold  and  family  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  now,  both 
are  gone  from  us,  yet  leaving  behind  them  a  shin- 


SONG  AND  SINGEE  26 

ing  pathway  of  accomplishment,  of  work  labori- 
ously undertaken  and  wonderfully  carried  through, 
in,  and  by,  virtue  of  the  Name  of  the  Master  they 
both  loved  and  served  so  well.  Each  man  had  his 
peculiar  gifts;  each  appealed  to  his  audiences  in  an 
entirely  different  way.  The  combination,  however, 
was  in  every  way  a  most  remarkable  one.  Work- 
ing without  the  other,  each  appeared  to  lack  some- 
thing ;  together,  they  simply  worked  wonders  in  the 
sphere  of  evangelistic  activity,  carrying  everywhere 
they  laboured  an  overpowering  sense  of  the 
potency  of  a  Gospel  message,  faithfully  delivered 
in  the  spirit  of  the  truth  ''  once  delivered  to  the 
saints." 


II 

A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 


THE  descriptive  articles  which  constitute 
this  chapter  were  written  of  Mr.  Alex- 
ander during  his  Australian  tours.  They 
appeared,  originally,  in  a  Chapman- Alexander 
Souvenir,  compiled  under  the  direction  of  T.  Shaw 
Fitchett,  editor  of  The  Southern  Cross, 

They  are  very  skilfully  done,  and  present  a 
truthful  and  easily-recognizable  picture  of  how 
this  truly  wonderful  Gospel-song  leader  did  his 
work.  Change  the  names  of  the  cities  and  you 
have  a  verbal  vizualization  of  how  Alexander  went 
about  his  work  in  London,  or  Chicago,  or  Birming- 
ham, or  Philadelphia — or  anywhere: 

Climb  up  by  stairway  and  ladder  to  the  top  of 
the  organ  and  look  down.  You  see  a  solitary 
frock-coated  figure,  standing  on  a  little  red  island, 
in  the  midst  of  a  sea  of  faces.  To  his  left  and 
right  are  grand  pianos,  and  between  them  a  cabinet 
organ. 

26 


A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES  27 

The  figure  on  the  red  island  has  apparently  done 
something,  for  the  sea  all  around  him  breaks  up 
into  waves,  that  surge  up  till  they  reach  his  feet. 
A  few  silver  notes  float  up  from  the  pianos.  They 
are  faint  but  unmistakable — they  are  the  prelimi- 
nary bars  of  The  Glory  Song,  and  a  perceptible 
thrill  of  recognition  trembles  through  the  great 
throng. 

When  all  my  labours  and  troubles  are  o'er 
sing  the  choir: 

And  I  am  safe  on  the  beautiful  shore 
adds  the  right  gallery: 

Just  to  be  near  the  dear  Lord  I  adore 
chimes  in  the  left  gallery: 

Will  through  the  ages  be  glory  for  me 
shout  the  people  on  the  floor. 

Then  the  man  on  the  island — who  has  been  re- 
sponsible for  these  bursts  of  song — goes  off  into 
a  series  of  Indian-club  exercises,  and  his  single 
word,  "  Eve'body,"  is  chased  by  such  a  volume 
of  harmony  that  the  very  roof  rings  with  the  shout 

That  will  be  glory — be  glory  for  me! 

The  music  stops,  and  beginning  at  the  little 
island,  the  wave  subsides.  Its  crest  runs  back,  and 
back,  and  back,  under  the  dome,  past  the  Duke's 
dais,  till  it  reaches  the  barricade — one  half  expects 
a  splash  of  people  to  be  thrown  up  over  the  great 
screens  which  form  the  barrier! 


28  A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

Then  there  arises  a  mighty,  humming  melody. 
The  words  are  indistinguishable,  but  the  air  is  one 
that  every  one  knows.  A  choir  of  seven  thousand 
is  singing,  just  above  their  breath.  Nearer  my  God 
to  Thee,  and  away  among  the  rafters  the  effect  is 
even  greater  than  when  The  Glory  Song  shook  the 
building. 

Another  pause  and  then  There  is  Power  in  the 
Blood  is  declared  by  seven  thousand  swelling,  tri- 
umphant voices. 

This  conductor  is  used  to  doing  things  on  a  big 
scale,  and  here  is  a  mighty  musical  instrument 
worthy  the  touch  of  a  master  hand.  Seven  thou- 
sand separate  notes,  a  dozen  stops,  power  supplied, 
not  by  hydraulic  machinery,  but  by  willing  hands 
and  warm  blood.  And  that  slender  man  with  the 
silver  voice,  the  ready  wit,  the  charming  smile, 
knows  how  to  use  his  instrument.  He  draws  out 
its  full  value,  and  who  shall  say  how  much  of  the 
work  of  winning  souls  is  done  before  ever  the 
Word  is  read  or  the  text  announced  ?  At  any  rate, 
the  ground  is  most  wonderfully  prepared  to  receive 
the  seed. 

As  St.  Andrew's  clock  chimed  eight,  a  figure  in 
a  top  coat  appeared  in  the  aisle,  and  there  being  no 
other  top  coat  like  it  in  all  Australia,  the  waiting 
choir  burst  into  a  cheer  of  welcome. 

"  A-amen !  "  responded  the  figure  in  the  over- 
coat, and  there  being  no  other  "  A-men  "  like  it 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  29 

in  all  Australia,  there  was  another  round  of  ap- 
plause. 

And  it  was  a  sight  to  evoke  an  "  Amen  '* ! 
Eleven  hundred,  say  the  official  figures,  is  the  esti- 
mated capacity  of  the  choir  gallery,  but  one  might 
safely  add  at  least  one  hundred  to  the  estimate. 
They  represented  the  picked  singers  from  perhaps 
two  hundred  different  churches. 

Mr.  Alexander  cast  aside  the  famous  overcoat 
and  ran  up  the  red  carpeted  flight  of  steps  to  the 
conductor's  stand,  raised  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  platform.  A  line  ruled 
from  the  foot  of  his  staircase  to  the  seat  of  the  big 
organ  would  divide  the  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  tenors  and  five  hundred  sopranos  from,  say, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  basses  and  three  hundred 
altos. 

He  got  into  touch  with  them  at  once.  "  You 
have  come  from  a  great  many  churches,"  he  said, 
"  but  with  a  single  purpose,  I  know,"  and  then,  as 
by  a  happy  inspiration,  "  What  do  you  say,  shall 
we  sing  '  The  Church's  one  Foundation  is  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord'?" 

They  sang  it,  and  "  I  like  you !  "  announced  the 
leader  emphatically,  and  immediately  called  for 
another  old  favourite,  Por  all  the  Saints  who  from 
Their  Labours  Rest.  Here  was  a  chance  for  the 
tenors  to  show  their  mettle,  and  as  they  swept  up 
the  crescendo  in  the  first  four  bars  Mr.  Alexander's 
eyes  kindled,  and  he  nodded  approval,  for  his  choir 


30  A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

organizer  had  promised  him  a  tenor-strength  that 
would  probably  surpass  anything  he  had  known  in 
either  England  or  America. 

**  Now  I  want  you  to  sing  a  Gospel  song  written 
by  one  of  yourselves,  an  Australian  born  and  bred. 
Play  He  Will  Hold  Me  Past,  Mr.  Harkness." 

Mr.  Harkness  played  the  air  through  the  ap- 
plause. 

"  Now  listen !  I  want  you  to  sing  as  I  zvant 
you  to  sing.  Did  you  get  that?  And  remember, 
I'm  depending  on  you,  and  if  you  don't  stay  by  me, 
I'm  gone !  Two  things  you've  got  to  do.  Sing  as 
I  tell  you,  and  sing  as  if  you  were  preaching,  not 
singing.  That's  what  we're  here  for.  We've  got 
to  preach !  " 

Then  began  the  music  lesson.  Mr.  Naftzger 
mounted  the  steps  and  stood  beside  the  conductor. 

"  I  want  you  to  watch  how  Mr.  Naftzger  sings, 
and  follow  him  closely.  You  know  that  when  a 
man  writes  a  song  he  cannot  put  on  paper  every- 
thing he  would  like  to — he  just  writes  it  straight 
ahead  and  leaves  it  to  your  common  sense  to  know 
how  to  sing  it.  So  sing  it  right,  if  you  knock 
the  music  all  to  pieces.     Now  it  is  the  easiest  thing 

in  the  world  to  kill  a  Gospel  song.     Listen " 

and  Mr.  Alexander  sang  the  music  exactly  as  writ- 
ten. "  When-I — f ear-my — faith-would — fa-ail — 
He-will  —  hold-me  —  fast  —  tum-tum  —  tum- 

tum "     When  the  laughter  showed  that  his 

hearers  took  the  point,  he  stopped.     "  Now  don't 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  31 

you  see?  "  he  asked,  quickly.  "  Sing  it  like  that, 
and  there's  nothing  to  it;  but  get  it  right,  and 
there's  a  sermon  in  it !  " 

Then  Mr.  Naftzger  sang  the  first  verse,  and  Mr. 
Alexander,  with  a  hand  on  his  shoulder,  flung  in  a 
comment  at  the  end  of  every  line.  The  result  was 
something  like  this: 

''  When  I  fear  my  faith  will  fail,'' 

("  Catch  that  phrasing?  '') 
"  CHRIST  can  hold  me  fast;  " 

("Just  like  that") 
"  When  the  tempter  would  prevail/' 

("Do  you  see?") 
''  He  can  HOLD  ME  fast." 

("Now  the  chorus!") 

"  Sing  it  ! "  It  was  a  trumpet  call,  and  it 
thrilled  the  ranks.  "  Come  on !  Come  on !  "  and 
a  vigorous  foot  stamped  the  time  on  the  floor  of 
the  stand.  ..."  That  chorus  once  more,  just 
a  little  faster,  and  when  you  come  to  the  last 
*  hold,'  just  sing  it  as  if  you  meant  it.  Sing  it  in 
capitals.  Tell  the  people  that  Christ  can  hold 
them."  As  the  chorus  pealed  out  crisp  and  clear 
in  spite  of  its  pace  and  volume,  Mr.  Alexander's 
face,  at  first  rigidly  set  as  if  he  were  pulling  the 
whole  twelve  hundred,  relaxed  into  one  beaming 
smile.  "Bless  your  old  hearts,"  he  exclaimed. 
"  Let's  stay  here  for  a  week !  " 

The  music  lesson  proceeded,  and  we  made  our 
way — a  little  cluster  of  us — to  the  top  of  the  organ 


32  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

loft,  from  which  coign  of  vantage  we  could  not 
only  hear  the  singing,  but  watch  the  conductor. 
Above  the  choir  seats  half  a  dozen  arc  lights  shed 
their  electric  brilliance,  but  in  the  hall  below  a 
single  incandescent  burned  like  a  star.  As  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach  were  empty  chairs,  row  after 
row,  stretching  away  to  the  dome,  and  then  lost  in 
the  cavern  of  darkness  beyond.  Against  that 
blackness  Mr.  Alexander  stood  up  in  bold  relief, 
the  whiteness  of  his  face  and  hands  accentuated 
by  the  dazzling  lights,  every  expression  of  his 
features  as  readable  as  every  word  he  spoke  was 
audible. 

And  as  we  watched,  we  realized  the  difference 
between  a  choir  conductor  and  a  choir-maker.  We 
recognized,  too,  a  greater  Alexander  than  of  yore 
— greater  in  skill,  in  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
and  in  spiritual  force.  He  talked  to  that  company 
of  singers — strangers  most  of  them  not  only  to 
him,  but  to  each  other — as  if  they  were  members 
of  a  family,  and  handled  them  with  an  absolute 
confidence  born  of  the  experience  gained  in  the 
seven  years  since  he  first  stood — a  comparatively 
unknown  leader — before  an  audience  in  the  Mel- 
bourne Exhibition  Building. 

His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  exemplified 
in  an  incident  that  perhaps  marked  the  climax  to 
the  rehearsal.  It  was  a  new  song  called  The  Way 
of  the  Cross  Leads  Home,  and  Mr.  Naftzger  had 
sung  the  first  verse: 


A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES  33 

I  must  needs  go  home  by  the  way  of  the  Cross, 

There's  no  other  way  but  this; 
I  shall  ne'er  get  sight  of  the  Gates  of  Light, 

If  the  way  of  the  Cross  I  miss. 

"  Now,"  said  Mr.  Alexander,  "  I  will  give  a 
Bible  to  any  lady  who  will  sing  that  verse,"  and 
instantly  a  young  woman  with  a  blue  hat,  sitting 
high  up  among  the  sopranos,  stood  up  and  sang 
the  verse  in  a  full,  clear  voice,  and  with  such  spirit 
that  a  burst  of  applause  followed  and  an  encore 
was  demanded. 

"  Say !  if  any  other  lady  will  sing  the  second 
verse,  I  guess  my  wife  will  give  her  a  Bible,  too." 
Mrs.  Alexander  nodded  her  guarantee,  but  for  a 
moment  there  was  no  volunteer.  Then  a  young 
lady  in  a  brown  tailor-made  costume  faced  the  or- 
deal, and  in  a  sweet  voice  that  trembled  just  a  little 
from  nervousness,  sang: 

/  have  lost  my  load  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross, 

As  here  on  my  Lord  I  gaze; 
With  a  lightened  heart,  on  the  road  I  start. 

And  my  heart  has  been  filled  with  praise. 

Again  there  was  hearty  appreciation  from  the 
choir  and  a  general  preparation  for  the  united  sing- 
ing of  the  rest  of  the  hymn. 

But  Mr.  Alexander  had  not  done  with  his  solo- 
ists. "  You  ladies  sang  beautifully  and  bravely, 
but  I  want  you  to  do  one  thing  more  for  me.  Just 
come  right  down  here  and  sing  the  last  verse  to- 
gether.    Won't  you  ?  "     And  amidst  the  laughter 


34  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

and  encouraging  "  bravos ''  of  their  sympathetic 
fellow-members,  the  blue  and  the  brown  made  their 
way  down  and  faced  the  delighted  audience.  They 
raised  their  books,  but  "  One  moment ! "  inter- 
rupted the  conductor.  "  Did  you  ladies  ever  sing 
together  before — No?  Know  each  other — No? 
Well,  shake  hands  now  and  become  acquainted.'* 
So,  whilst  the  gallery  rang  with  merriment,  the 
heroines  shook  hands,  and  then,  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der, sang: 

Then  I  hid  farewell  to  the  way  of  the  world. 

To  walk  in  it  nevermore; 
For  my  Lord  says  ''Come!''  and  I  seek  my  home 
Where  He  waits  at  the  open  door. 

It  was  an  amusing  interlude,  an  interesting  little 
bit  of  entertainment ;  but  somehow,  when  the  blue 
and  the  brown  had  settled  into  their  places  again, 
there  was  a  different  feeling  in  the  air.  It  was  as 
if  the  whole  gathering  had  shaken  hands — ^had 
come  to  a  family  party. 

Mr.  Alexander  treated  them  as  a  family,  too. 
"What  are  you  doing?"  he  scolded,  stopping  in 
the  midst  of  a  chorus.  "  Listen,  sopranos !  Throw 
yourselves  right  into  it.  Don't  stay  'way  back. 
Now,  try  again.     .     .     . 

"  No !  No !  NO !  Say  your  words  out,  every 
one  clear-cut  like  a  diamond."  And  they  answered 
to  the  spur  as  they  had  responded  to  the  smile ! 

It  was  during  the  singing  of  Gelbel's  setting  of 


A  MASTER  OP  ASSEMBLIES  35 

Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul  that  Mr.  Alexander  dis- 
played another  of  those  little  characteristics  that 
have  made  him  a  master.  Tenors  and  altos  sing 
the  air,  and  the  successful  effect  depends  largely 
upon  the  manner  in  which  the  other  parts  pick  up 
the  chorus.  The  average  conductor  would  prob- 
ably say,  "Now,  ladies,  be  careful  of  your  at- 
tack !  "  Mr.  Alexander's  method  is  different.  He 
detected  a  flaw  in  the  connection,  an  almost  imper- 
ceptible break  between  the  verse  and  the  chorus. 
"Stop!"  he  shouted.  Then,  quietly,  "Listen, 
sopranos,  and  I'll  tell  you  what  to  do.  Just  watch 
those  tenors  coming  down  to  the  end  of  the  line, 
take  in  your  breath  a  good  minute  before  they  ar- 
rive, and  when  the  note  comes  grab  it  ! "  The 
advice  may  not  have  been  couched  in  the  exact 
terms  of  the  Royal  College  of  Music,  but  it  was 
effective. 

Space  allows  for  but  a  word  about  the  finest 
chorus  of  the  evening,  and  the  bare  mention  of  the 
fact  that  in  the  course  of  the  lesson  Mrs.  Norton, 
Mrs.  Asher,  Mr.  Hemminger,  and  Mr.  Dickson 
were  used  as  soloists  to  illustrate  the  methods  of 
phrasing  and  expression.  The  chorus  referred  to 
was  prefaced — like  most  of  the  numbers,  indeed — 
with  a  little  story.  "  After  our  great  meetings  in 
the  Albert  Hall,  London,  I  asked  one  of  the  Angli- 
can clergymen  what  he  remembered  more  than 
anything  else,  and  he  replied,  *  The  way  the  people 
sang  Thy  God  Reigneth! '    And  isn't  that  a  good 


36  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

message  to  carry  in  your  hearts  and  to  burn  into 
the  minds  of  the  people  who  will  come?  " 

The  number  is  arranged  in  four-line  stanzas,  in 
a  peculiarly  effective  manner,  and  ending  in  two 
long  notes  (Thy  God),  and  two  short  ones  (reign- 
eth),  sung  with  tremendous  power,  and  cut  off 
with  startling  abruptness.  Standing  under  the 
dome,  we  heard  every  word  of  the  anthem  clearly. 
The  victorious  shout  crashed  through  the  building, 
ended  sharply,  and  from  the  dark  recesses  came 
back  the  echo  with  striking  distinctness,  "  God 
reigneth" 

Mr.  Alexander  showed  originality,  too,  m  his 
retirenrent.  "  Sing  that  chorus — Up  from  the 
Grave  He  Arose — again  while  I  stand  back  in  the 
hall,"  he  remarked — but  as  he  went  he  adroitly 
gathered  up  his  overcoat  and  hat.  "  Once  more, 
please."  Then  from  the  dome,  "  Thank  you  all. 
Good-bye.     God  bless  you  " — and  he  was  gone ! 

To  the  choir  members  it  was  an  inspiration  and 
a  fine  evening's  entertainment,  to  the  conductor — 
and,  it  must  be  added,  to  the  pianist,  Mr.  Hark- 
ness — it  was  a  night  of  tremendous  physical  effort 
and  nervous  strain ;  but  to  the  detached  and  inter- 
ested onlooker  the  whole  performance  was  a  mas- 
terpiece, an  artistic  triumph. 

The  great  concert-hall  is  still  in  semi-darkness. 
A  few  lights,  here  and  there,  relieve  the  gloom. 
Away  out  beyond  the  dome  is  blackness,  thick  as 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  37 

night.  The  choir-gallery  and  the  space  immedi- 
ately in  front  is  faintly  lit  up.  But  this  condition 
of  things  continues  only  for  a  few  minutes.  As  if 
by  a  touch  of  some  unseen  magician,  the  vast  build- 
ing is  filled  with  white,  soft  light. 

Ah,  what  is  that?  The  doors  are  open!  The 
crowd  is  coming!  Yes,  the  crowd  is  coming.  It 
is  like  an  immense  moving-picture,  exhibited  to  the 
accompaniment  of  accompanying  thunder.  Thou- 
sands upon  thousands  are  hurrying  up  through  the 
murky,  dust-filled  atmosphere,  as  if  their  very  lives 
depended  on  their  speed.  On  they  come — like  the 
tidal  bore  of  a  great  tidal  river.  In  one  vast  vol- 
ume it  rushes  till  it  reaches  the  space  beneath  the 
dome.  The  main  stream  continues  and  surges  up 
the  central  aisle,  and  distributes  itself  over  all  the 
concert-hall  area.  Two  side-streams  have  disap- 
peared ;  but  they  burst  up  from  the  stairways  like 
waves  from  underneath  hollow  rocks  and  splash 
and  gurgle  along  the  galleries. 

At  five  minutes  past  seven  an  official  reports: 
"All  the  seats  are  filled.'*  Orders  are  given  for 
the  doors  to  be  closed.  But  what  a  throng  it  is! 
For  twenty  minutes  it  tries  to  go  through  the  proc- 
ess of  "  settling  down."  It  doesn't  succeed  very 
well.  The  air  is  full  of  social  joy.  Right  here  in 
the  front  is  wheeled  an  invalid  chair,  with  a  pale- 
faced  woman  seated  in  it.  One  wonders  by  what 
amount  of  loving  forethought  and  ingenious  con- 
triving this  has  been  managed  ?    The  choir  enter- 


38  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

tains  itself  by  applauding  prominent  members  as 
they  arrive.  But  at  twenty-five  minutes  past  seven 
not  the  choir  only,  but  also  the  whole  vast  audience 
is  cheering  at  its  fullest  power.  Alexander  has 
come ! 

His  first  words  ring  out  clear  and  strong:  "  We 
are  to  have  a  three-hour  sing,"  and  he  smiles  glee- 
fully at  thought  of  such  a  program.  His  second 
sentence  conveys  a  request.  It  is  done  with  ex- 
quisite tact.  Its  result  is  almost  instantly  apparent 
in  the  spectacle  furnished  by  practically  every  lady 
tugging  at  dagger-like  pins  and  removing  her  hat, 
patting  down  her  front  hair  or  giving  it  sundry 
little  pokes  and  pulls  to  straighten  it  into  a  state 
of  becomingness.  Some  look  far  from  satisfied, 
but  the  changed  appearance  of  the  vast  audience  is 
very  marked.  What  was  a  moment  before  an  un- 
even surface,  broken  by  headgear  of  various 
heights  and  shapes  and  colours,  behind  which  un- 
fortunate males  have  sat  dodging,  is  now  almost  a 
level  and  unhindered.  And  the  men,  with  one  ac- 
cord, "  look  "  a  thousand  votes  of  thanks. 

Alexander  is  watching — amused  and  delighted. 
He  is  measuring  his  crowd  with  the  eye  of  a  gen- 
eral. He  IS  determining  his  methods.  "  Get 
ready,"  he  cries,  "  for  a  long,  hard,  delightful 
evening.  We  are  all  going  to  join  the  choir." 
His  hands  are  uplifted — those  wonder-working 
hands.  "  Let  us  pray  first."  And  he  prays  briefly 
and  simply. 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  39 

"One  hundred  and  forty — Abide  With  Me, 
Everybody  stand."  The  three  hours  of  singing 
have  begun.  The  conductor  is  leaning  forward, 
scanning  every  part  of  this  great  company.  "  The 
last  phrase  just  in  a  whisper."  The  direction  is 
obeyed.  Ten  thousand  voices  are  blending  in  one 
great,  whispered  prayer — "Abide  with  me."  Then 
enthusiasts  begin  to  call  out  the  numbers  of  hymns 
they  want  sung. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  cries  Mr.  Alexander.  "  I'll 
tell  you  when  you  can  have  your  choice.  First  of 
all  we're  going  to  learn  a  new  chorus  while  we're 
fresh.  It  is  number  fifty-nine.  There's  enough 
in  this  to  save  any  man,  no  matter  how  deep  he 
may  be  sunk  in  sin." 

The  sopranos  of  the  choir  sing  it  first.  Then 
the  whole  choir.  The  audience  listens.  Heads 
are  gently  swaying  and  nodding  as  the  melody  be- 
comes more  familiar: 

/  believe,  I  believe  on  the  Son  of  God, 

The  conductor  is  insisting  on  clear  enunciation: 
"  Not  I-'lieve.  Let  the  words  come  clear  out.  I 
6^-lieve."  Turning  swiftly  to  the  audience  he 
cries :  "  Now !  Are  you  ready  for  it  ?  "  The  au- 
dience isn't  sure.  A  few  voices  answer  timidly  in 
the  affirmative.  Mr.  Alexander  won't  try  it  yet. 
He  has  another  plan.  Pointing  to  one  of  the  offi- 
cials he  asks:  "  Do  you  think  there  is  enough  in 
that  chorus  to  save  a  man?"     "Yes,  I  do,"  an- 


40  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

swers  the  official  promptly.  "  Then  you  give  a 
Bible  to  the  first  volunteer  who  will  sing  it,"  flashes 
back  the  song-leader.  A  ripple  of  merriment  runs 
over  all  faces,  not  excluding  that  of  the  official. 
Two  ladies  volunteer  to  make  the  effort !  The  first 
is  very  nervous,  and  her  voice  thins  off  in  parts — 
almost  to  silence.  The  second  sings  clearly  and 
well.  Both  are  to  get  Bibles.  Then  everybody 
goes  to  work — "  I  believe,  I  believe  on  the  Son  of 
God."  "  Glory — glory,"  cries  a  Salvation  Army 
officer,  his  eyes  glistening  like  the  very  stars. 

And  now  the  eyes  of  the  conductor  are  upon  the 
lady  in  the  wheel-chair.  "  And  what  hymn  would 
you  like  ?  "  he  asks  sympathetically.  She  chooses 
There  is  Pozver  in  the  Blood.  ''Ah,  we  used  to 
make  this  old  building  ring  with  that,  seven  years 
ago,"  says  Mr.  Alexander.  "  Choir,  sing  the 
chorus  : 

''  There  is  power,  power,  wonder-working  power, 

"  Now,"  smilingly,  "  you  common  people."  The 
word  "power — power,"  vibrates  and  echoes.  ''Do 
you  want  another  verse  ?  "  and  the  invalid  smiles 
back  her  acquiescent  wish.  The  verse  is  sung. 
"  You've  got  them  to  sing  better  than  I  did,"  Alex- 
ander says  to  her,  accompanying  his  words  with 
his  winning  smile.  How  many  future  hours,  think 
you,  will  be  cheered  for  that  woman  by  the  mem- 
ory of  this  precious  hour? 

Now  the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  41 

— Dr.  A.  Stewart — is  asked  to  select  a  hymn.  In 
broad  Scotch  tones  he  cries:  Oh,  for  a  Thousand 
Tongues  to  Sing.  "  Why,"  exclaims  Mr.  Alexan- 
der, ''  this  Presbyterian  has  chosen  one  of  the  old- 
est and  greatest  Methodist  pieces  ever  written. 
Everybody  over  fifty-five  stand  up  and  sing  it." 
The  seniors  sing  it.  Their  voices  are  rather  wa- 
vering and  uncertain.  The  conductor  greets  them 
with  a  "  Hallelujah  "  midway,  and  a  louder  at  the 

end. 

"  And  how  long  is  it  since  you  first  heard  that 
hymn?  "  says  Mr.  Alexander  to  a  white-haired  old 
man.  "Nearly  seventy  years  ago,"  is  the  reply. 
"  Bless  your  old  hearts,"  smiles  the  conductor  to 
the  veterans.  "  That's  the  best  singing  we  have 
had  to-night.  Don't  stop  singing  till  you  get  into 
your  graves.  And  then  you  will  begin  all  over 
again." 

Mr.  Alexander  announces  the  offering,  and 
while  it  is  being  received,  reads  a  letter  to  the 
choir.  It  tells  of  how  two  young  ladies  were  led 
to  surrender  themselves  to  Christ  through  the  sing- 
ing at  the  first  choir  rehearsal.  Number  "one- 
thirty-one  "  had  influenced  them. 

"  Sing  it— M3;  Anchor  Holds."  In  his  eager- 
ness to  encourage  and  inspire  his  singers,  this  won- 
derfully magnetic  conductor  races  down  several 
steps  of  his  high  platform,  and  literally  pelts  direc- 
tions with  both  his  hands  at  various  sections  of  the 
choir.     They  respond  magnificently.     Their  leader 


42  A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

stands  with  his  right  hand  extended  while  the  last 
note  is  sustained.  Then  it  falls  with  the  swiftness 
of  a  sword-stroke  and  the  sound  is  cut  off.  There 
is  a  moment  of  breathless  quiet,  followed  by  a 
veritable  thunder-roll  of  applause. 

While  the  choir  rests,  the  audience  sings  Lean 
Upon  His  Arms,  and  just  as  Mr.  Alexander  is 
urging  the  preachers  and  the  local  preachers  to  sing 
it — this  with  a  quaint,  amusing  expression — Dr. 
Chapman,  the  preacher,  arrives.  He  is  not  to 
preach  to-night,  however.  Presently  he  reads  a 
number  of  requests  for  prayer,  and  submits  them 
to  God.  It  is  a  hushed  assembly  now,  kneeling  at 
the  throne  of  the  Eternal. 

After  these  moments  of  supplication,  Mr.  Alex- 
ander asks  his  vast  audience  whether  any  hymn 
sung  during  the  Mission  was  known  to  have  been 
the  means  of  saving  any  one  ?  "  Yes,"  cries  a 
voice,  "  number  seventy-nine — He  Will  Hold  Me 
Past."  The  conductor  pledges  Dr.  Chapman  to 
give  a  Bible  to  a  man  who  sings  one  of  the  verses 
as  a  solo.     Dr.  Chapman  smiles,  and  nods  assent. 

Now  a  look  of  delighted  anticipation  lights  up 
all  faces  as  it  is  announced  that  Mr.  Naftzger  will 
sing  The  Ninety  and  Nine.  The  clear,  cultured 
voice  rings  out  to  the  outer  rim  of  the  multitude. 
With  each  stanza  the  feeling  grows.  The  last  line 
rings  out  as  with  a  heavenly  note  of  triumph  in  it; 

Rejoice,  for  the  Lord  brings  hack  His  own. 

The  choir  takes  up  and  repeats  the  great,  glad 


A  MASTER  OF  ASSEMBLIES  43 

word,  "  Rejoice,"  again  and  yet  again.  Then  the 
whole  line 

Rejoice,  for  the  Lord  brings  hack  His  own. 

The  right-hand  gallery  takes  up  the  strain. 
Then  the  left-hand.  Then  the  people  far  off,  under 
the  dome.  Then  the  yet  more  distant  and  almost 
invisible  people  in  the  galleries  beyond.  Finally, 
everybody  stands  and  sings 

Rejoice,  for  the  Lord  brings  back  His  own. 

Up,  up,  and  away  the  thankful  strain  rises,  and 
though  challenging  the  rejoicing  in  the  very  upper 
courts  of  God,  when  the  angels  sing  the  saving 
triumphs  of  the  Lord,  who  seeks,  and  seeking, 
saves. 

It  is  no  haphazard  that  the  next  hymn  is  Must 
I  Go  and  Empty  Handed?  This  incomparable 
song-leader  has  a  genius  for  appropriateness.  He 
feels  the  moods  of  an  audience  and  divines  their 
thoughts.  We  have  been  singing  of  the  great  re- 
joicing of  the  home-bringing  of  the  Shepherd's 
far-wandered  ones.  We  are  now  brought  search- 
ingly  to  consider  our  own  responsibility  in  His 
service.  "If  you  were  to  die  where  you  are  sit- 
ting, would  you  go  out  of  this  earthly  life  to  face 
your  Lord — and  empty-handed  ?  "  Alexander  has 
compressed  a  whole  sermon  into  a  sentence — a 
question — and  it  pierces  the  hearts  of  men. 

In  front  of  the  organ  is  a  broad  strip  of  white 
cloth,  bearing  in  letters  large  enough  for  ten  thou- 
sand people  to  read  the  words:  "  God  is  now  will- 


44  A  MASTEE  OP  ASSEMBLIES 

ing.  Are  you  ?  "  It  is  part  of  the  background  of 
the  next  song.  The  other  part  is  a  bit  of  spoken 
history.  "  This  song,"  Mr.  Alexander  is  saying, 
*'  was  sung  every  night  in  the  great  Bingley  Hall, 
Birmingham,  away  yonder  in  your  Mother  Land, 
and  Mr.  Hemminger  will  now  sing  it  here — for 
you." 

Will  you  not  trust  Him,  faithful  and  true? 
If  you  refuse  Him,  0  what  will  you  dof 
God  is  now  willing — are  youf 

And  Hemminger  sings  it  so  that  it  becomes  a 
poignant  entreaty,  pulsing  with  the  very  love  of 
God. 

During  the  singing  of  the  next  hymn  it  would 
seem  as  though  the  vast  spaces  above  us  were  peo- 
pled with  our  own  dear  dead — an  invisible  company, 
near  at  hand  and  watching — "  Looking  this  way." 
Hard-faced  men  are  weeping  quietly,  women  are 
sobbing  audibly.  For  the  touch  of  sorrow  has 
been  laid  upon  us  all.  We  have  all  stood,  bereft 
and  desolate,  in  the  awful  silences  of  bereavement. 
Yet  grief  has  its  classifications,  so  to  speak.  And 
those  who  have  "  fathers  and  mothers  safe  in  the 
vale,"  sing  of  them ;  those  who  have  "  brothers  and 
sisters  gone  to  that  clime,"  sing  of  them;  those 
who  have  "  a  sweet,  little  darling  light  of  the  home, 
looking  for  some  one,  beckoning,  '  Come,' "  sing 
of  them.  Voices  quaver,  others  fail.  It  is  all 
pathetic,    beyond    description.     Then    softly,    yet 


A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES  45 

with  gradually  strengthening  volume  and  unan- 
nounced is  sung  by  the  choir 

There  is  a  happy  land  far,  far  away, 

which  breaks  upon  this  great  gathering  like  a  note 
of  blissful  assurance  wafted  from  the  land  across 
whose  blissful  portals  the  Angel  of  Death  hath 
never  trod,  where  happy  spirits  ever  quiver,  with 
the  melody  of  peace. 

It  is  now  ten  o'clock.  But  the  audience  is  still 
as  keen  in  its  interest  as  it  was  at  eight.  The  con- 
ductor disciplines  his  choir  to  perfection  in  its  ren- 
dering of 

Who  Could  If  Be  But  Jesmf 

One  more  solo,  and  we  are  told  the  ''  choir  prac- 
tice "  will  end : 

/  love  Him,  I  love  Him, 
Because  He  first  loved  me. 

The  choir  hums  the  chorus,  as  one  voice  clear, 
heart-warm,  exultant,  appealing  rises  above  the 
moving  music.  It  ceases,  and  there  is  a  great  still- 
ness. We  bow  in  prayer.  People  are  asked  to  make 
a  decision  for  Christ,  for  this  is  an  evangelistic  serv- 
ice. Many  stand.  And  then  that  voice,  rich  and 
full,  pleads  and  gives  thanks  to  God.  Even  now, 
the  evening's  program  is  not  quite  complete.  We 
sing,  as  those  who  know  that,  never  again,  on  this 
earth,  shall  all  meet  just  in  this  way, 

God  he  with  you  till  we  meet  again. 


46  A  MASTEE  OF  ASSEMBLIES 

It  is  a  mutual  prayer,  a  common  pledge,  and  the 
Benediction  is  as  the  confirming  voice  of  God. 
The  wondrous  night  of  song  is  ended — and  yet,  it 
will  never  end ! 

Who,  reading  these  pieces  of  fine,  descriptive 
writing,  can  fail  to  recognize  their  truthfulness? 
How  they  conjure  up  one's  own  memories  of  this 
veritable  master  of  assemblies!  Alexander's 
methods  of  work  in  Australia  were  his  methods 
everywhere.  He  was  never  a  copyist — except  of 
himself — always  original,  spontaneous,  unique. 

It  is  difficult  to  estimate — impossible,  maybe,  to 
overestimate  —  "  Charlie  "  Alexander's  contribu- 
tion to  the  success  of  the  great  Missions  in  which 
he  collaborated.  Dr.  Chapman,  himself,  freely  ac- 
knowledged that  Alexander's  was  a  much  more 
difficult  task  than  was  his  own,  and  made  his  own 
work  comparatively  easy.  To  take  an  audience  of 
anything  from  five  to  ten  thousand  men  and 
women ;  to  gather,  as  it  were,  their  individual,  dis- 
connected strands  of  thought  and  weld  them  into  a 
single  wire  along  which  a  single  message  is  dis- 
patched— to  do  that  is  the  work  of  consecrated 
genius.  And  "  Charlie  "  Alexander  did  it — as  no 
other  living  man  I  ever  saw  could  do  it.  And  the 
direct  outcome  of  his  doing  it  was  to  aid  men  and 
women  in  catching  a  glimpse  of  the  Invisible,  and 
to  make  it  impossible  for  them,  thereafter,  to  for- 
get the  high,  imperative  concerns  of  the  soul. 


Ill 

HYMNS  THAT    HAVE  HELPED 

IT  goes  without  saying  that  a  song-ministry 
such  as  that  of  Charles  Alexander — a  minis- 
try which  has  literally  belted  the  globe — was 
followed  by  remarkable  results.  I  have  not  now 
in  mind  the  general  effect  of  such  a  ministry,  its 
tonic  effect  on  believers,  its  indispensable  place  in 
the  great  Missions  conducted  East  and  West  by  his 
colleagues.  What  I  have  in  mind  is  the  indi- 
vidual  blessing  Alexander,  his  soloists  and  his 
hymns  have  brought  to  needy,  stricken  men  and 
women  everywhere.  I  have  heard  the  great  song- 
leader  relate  scores  of  such  instances  in  public  in 
addition  to  many  others  he  told  me  of  from  time  to 
time  in  the  course  of  personal  conversations. 

"  Your  songs  have  been  a  source  of  real  benedic- 
tion to  your  fellow-mortals  ?  "  Mr.  Alexander  was 
once  asked. 

"  Well,  I  just  guess  they  have,"  he  replied. 
"  Why,  I  could  begin  with  the  old  Glory  Song,  and 
go  clean  through,  telling  you  of  people  in  almost 
every  land  under  the  sun  that  have  been  brought 
to  Christ  by  one  and  another.     You  see,  if  you 

47 


48  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

have  songs  written  with  experiences  like  that  back 
of  them,  they  can't  help  being  soul-winners.  And 
that  is  the  great  test  a  song  has  got  to  pass  before 
we  let  it  in — is  it  a  soul-winner?  We've  got  no 
use  for  pretty  songs,  or  grand  songs,  or  entertain- 
ing songs,  unless  they  come  up  to  that  standard. 
There  are  other  essentials." 

"Which  are ?" 

"  Well,  some  of  them  are  simplicity,  smoothness, 
directness,  truth  to  Scripture.  Talking  of  sim- 
plicity, people  sometimes  say  to  me,  '  Why,  with  a 
choir  like  that,  you  could  render  such  and  such  an 
oratorio  magnificently ! '  or  '  Why  don't  you  give 
us  something  classical,  something  high-class  ? ' 
Well,  I  don't  know  about  high-class.  I  judge  a 
song  by  its  saving  power,  and  I  reckon  I  use  the 
highest  possible  class.  When  you  can  show  me 
that  oratorios  will  convert  more  people  than  simple 
Gospel  songs,  I  will  put  them  on  the  program 
every  night  of  the  week.  But  I  believe  in  using 
the  hymns  that  really  help  people,  and  save  people, 
and  when  they  don't  do  that,  it  is  best  not  to  waste 
time  on  them.     Yes,  that  is  the  test." 

"  Where  do  you  get  your  hymns  ?  '' 

"  From  the  wide  world.  Here,  there  and  every- 
where. From  all  sorts  of  people  and  all  kinds  of 
places.  The  man  who  sets  out  to  make  a  collection 
of  Gospel  songs  never  knows  when  he  may  find  a 
treasure.  I  could  tell  you  stories  enough  to  fill 
columns  about  the  origins  of  some  of  the  songs 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  49 

that  have  been  sung  in  this  Mission.  I  received 
through  the  mail  the  music  of  What  Will  You  Do 
With  Jesus?  and  it  has  become  our  great  invitation 
song.  Then  I  shall  never  forget  how  Don't  Stop 
Praying  had  its  birth.  I  also  received  it  through 
the  post;  the  sender  told  me  that  it  had  been  re- 
fused by  two  music  publishers.  I  was  so  struck 
with  it  that  I  asked  the  writer  to  call  and  see  me. 
She  came,  and  told  me  that  she  had  had  a  very 
great  trouble.  She  prayed  for  help,  but  help  did 
not  seem  to  be  coming.  Still  she  kept  praying,  and 
one  morning,  at  breakfast,  she  opened  a  letter  that 
lifted  the  whole  trouble  from  her.  She  was  so 
convinced  that  her  faith  had  been  justified,  and  so 
inspired  by  the  belief,  that  before  she  got  up  from 
the  table  she  wrote  the  words  and  music  of  Don't 
Stop  Praying  almost  exactly  as  they  stand  to-day. 

"  Of  course,  some  people  write  the  words  of  one 
hymn  as  the  result  of  a  deep  heart  experience,  and 
never  write  another — just  as  a  writer  might  write 
one  book  that  grips  and  holds  you,  yet  can  never 
write  another  like  it.  But  when  you  come  to  think 
of  it,  a  Gospel  song-book  is  just  a  wonderful  thing. 
For  in  one  you  have  say  a  hundred  things  that 
have  not  only  gripped  hundreds  of  souls,  but 
brought  scores  of  them  right  into  the  Kingdom. 

"  Take,  for  Instance,  He  Will  Hold  Me  Fast/* 
Mr.  Alexander  went  on.  "  Harkness  wrote  that 
hymn,  through  him  once  being  himself  held  and  in- 
fluenced by  a  single  phrase  in  a  sermon.     It  imme- 


60  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

diately  became  popular,  especially  with  male  audi- 
ences. When  we  were  in  Swansea,  the  famous 
coaling  port  of  South  Wales,  the  men  caught  it  up 
and  sang  it  as  only  Welshmen  can  sing.  One  day 
a  big  fellow  was  working  on  the  pier,  helping  to 
load  a  vessel.  By  some  means  one  of  his  heels  be- 
came caught  in  the  chain  of  the  crane,  and  before 
he  realized  what  had  happened  he  was  swinging, 
head  down,  in  mid-air.  The  great  steam  crane  car- 
ried him  up  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  a  few  seconds, 
but  his  predicament  was  seen,  and  the  engine- 
driver,  being  notified,  he  was  safely  lowered.  He 
told  me,  afterwards,  that  he  had  been  attending  the 
meetings  of  the  Mission,  and  that  while  he  hung  in 
mid-air  the  line  of  that  hymn  flashed  into  his  mind 
and  he  felt  '  He  will  hold  me  fast.'  I'm  not  at  all 
surprised  that  this  has  been  his  favourite  hymn 
ever  since. 

"  During  a  Mission  I  assisted  in  conducting  in 
Liverpool,  a  sporting  man  who,  among  other  things 
incidental  to  such  a  life  as  was  his,  had  been  a 
prize-fight  referee.  He  had  a  God-fearing  wife, 
who,  all  unknown  to  him,  had  for  six  years  prayed 
unceasingly  for  his  conversion. 

"  One  day  he  consented  to  accompany  his  wife 
to  one  of  our  meetings.  When  the  pair  got  to  the 
building  where  the  Mission  was  being  held,  they 
found  It  packed  to  the  doors,  and  a  great  crowd 
waiting  outside. 

"Turning  to  his  wife  the  man  said:  *Do  you 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  61 

think  I'm  going  to  shove  my  way  through  that 
crew  ? ' 

"  *  But  you've  promised  me/  repHed  his  wife. 

'* '  Well,  all  right.  Let's  see  what  we  can  do. 
If  it  had  been  a  mob  trying  to  get  into  a  prize-fight, 
I'd  soon  show  'em  how  to  get  through.' 

"  They  managed  to  get  into  the  building.  Noth- 
ing seemed  to  impress  the  man  until  the  great 
crowd  began  to  sing  that  wonderful  hymn  When 
I  Survey  the  Wondrous  Cross.  As  the  third 
stanza  was  being  sung — 

"  See,  from  His  head,  His  hands.  His  feet, 
Sorrow  and  love  flozv  mingled  dozvn! 
Did  e'er  such  love  and  sorrow  meet — 
Or  thorns  compose  so  rich  a  crownf 

the  rough,  strong  man  bowed  his  head  in  his  hands 
and  cried  like  a  little  child.  It  was  the  vision  of 
Jesus,  suffering  for  his  sins,  that  had  conquered 
his  heart.  He  went  to  the  front,  and  said  to  the 
man  who  dealt  with  him:  'Sir,  do  you  know  I 
have  learned  and  realized  more  of  the  story  of 
Jesus  in  the  last  five  minutes  than  in  the  past  fifteen 
years/ 

"  That  man,''  said  Mr.  Alexander,  "  afterwards 
became  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  Christian 
workers  in  Liverpool,  and  has  remained  such  to 
this  day. 

"  Everybody  knows  how  popular  He  Lifted  Me 
became,  and  what  a  real  help  it  has  proved  to  thou- 


52  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

sands.  That  song  was  written  for  me  by  Charles 
H.  Gabriel,  the  author  of  the  Glory  Song,  and  I 
consider  it  one  of  the  best  he  ever  has  written. 
Wherever  it  is  used  I  receive  letters  from  people 
telling  me  of  the  great  benefit  they  have  derived 
from  this  song.  While  in  Boston,  Mass.,  I  received 
a  letter  from  a  man  who  was  brought  to  Christ  by 
this  song.  He  told  me  he  had  not  been  in  church 
for  sixteen  years,  and  had  grown  indifferent  to  re- 
ligion. On  reading  this  song  over  he  was  stirred 
profoundly,  and  immediately  settled  the  question 
then  and  there.  He  wrote  that  he  had  applied  the 
song  to  his  own  life,  and  that  Christ  had  indeed 
lifted  him  from  sin  and  wretchedness  into  a  life  of 
peace  and  joy  in  Him. 

"A  striking  instance  of  the  soul-saving  power  of 
Gospel  song  occurred  in  the  case  of  a  lady  who  at- 
tended one  of  the  simultaneous  meetings  during 
the  great  Chicago  Mission.  During  the  service  a 
verse  in  the  hymn  Will  You  Take  Jesus  To-Day? 
arrested  her  attention.  The  music  sank  deep  into 
her  soul,  and  she  found  herself  compelled  to  an- 
swer the  question  definitely.  A  minute's  thought 
decided  the  issue,  and  with  a  heart  full  of  joy  un- 
speakable she  gave  her  life  to  God.  On  leaving 
the  building  she  purchased  a  hymn-book,  and  that 
evening,  in  company  with  her  husband  and  seven- 
teen-year-old daughter,  she  sat  up  until  midnight 
singing  the  Gospel  songs.  The  result  of  her  ex- 
ample was  that  both  husband  and  daughter  ac- 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  53 

cepted  the  Saviour,  and  they  retired  to  rest  a  fam- 
ily united  in  Christ. 

*'The  following  day  the  lady  was  taken  suddenly 
and  seriously  ill.  On  the  way  to  the  hospital  she 
said  to  her  husband ;  '  I  shall  never  come  back  home 
again;  but  oh,  I  am  glad  I  answered  the  question 
and  got  right  with  God.  I  am  not  afraid  to  go.' 
She  died  without  returning  to  her  home  as  she  had 
prophesied,  but  before  passing  away  she  requested 
that  at  the  funeral  service  they  would  sing  the 
hymn  Will  You  Take  Jesus  To-Day  f  which  had 
been  the  means  of  opening  up  for  her  the  way  to 
eternal  life. 

"  One  day  while  I  was  working  in  South  Lon- 
don," Mr.  Alexander  continued,  "  a  woman  went 
to  one  of  our  afternoon  meetings  and  was  much 
impressed  by  the  singing  of  the  hymn  Does  Jesus 
Care?  Returning  home  that  evening  she  found 
that  her  only  son  had  not  returned.  She  sat  up 
all  night  watching  for  his  appearance — yet  com- 
forted by  the  words  of  the  hymn  she  had  heard. 
After  much  surprise  and  anguish  of  mind  she 
learned  that  he  had  been  arrested,  and  was  waiting 
trial  the  following  week.  All  through  the  days  of 
agony  that  followed — hardly  conscious  of  what 
was  passing  around  her — that  hymn  was  with  her. 
With  other  believing  friends  she  was  able  to  com- 
mit the  matter  to  the  Lord,  who  indeed  overruled, 
and,  contrary  to  expectations,  the  boy  was  released. 
The  same  afternoon  he  came  straight  to  the  hall 


54  HYMNS  THAT  HAYE  HELPED 

where  we  were  holding  meetings  and  yielded  him- 
self to  the  God  who  had  done  so  much  for  him,  and 
since  that  time  both  mother  and  son  have  been 
praising  and  serving  God. 

**  When  we  were  holding  a  Mission  in  a  town  in 
the  State  of  Iowa,  one  of  the  big  officials  of  a  great 
American  railroad  used  to  come  into  our  meetings. 
He  could  not  get  in  for  the  regular  services,  but  he 
would  always  come  in  for  the  after-meetings,  and  he 
very  much  enjoyed  them,  except  when  we  began  to 
sing  /  Surrender  All.  Then  he  would  get  up  and 
leave  the  building.  I  asked  him  if  he  did  not  like 
the  song? 

"  *  I  like  it  well  enough,'  he  replied,  *  but  when  I 
hear  it  I  have  to  go  out.' 

"  *  Yes,  I  have  noticed  that,'  I  replied,  '  but 
why? ' 

"  '  Well,'  he  returned,  '  if  I  stayed  in  this  place 
and  listened  that  song  through,  I  would  have  to  go 
right  up,  surrender  all,  and  give  my  heart  to  God. 
And  I'm  not  willing  to  do  it.     So  I  just  clear  out.' 

"  I  tell  you,"  said  Mr.  Alexander,  "  a  song  that 
can  grip  a  man  in  that  fashion  will  do  good  any- 
where : 

''  I  surrender  all, 
I  surrender  all; 
All  I  have,  I  bring  to  Jesus — 
I  surrender  all. 

"  When  we  were  in  the  Orient  in  1909,  I  intro- 
duced the  chorus  of  this  song  at  a  meeting  that  was 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  55 

crowded  with  Japanese.  I  had  never  before  sung 
this  chorus  in  a  foreign  language.  A  man  trans- 
lated it  for  me,  and  romanized  it,  and  while  one  of 
our  party  was  speaking  I  memorized  the  transla- 
tion, and  then  got  up  and  sang  it.  I  told  the  peo- 
ple that  this  '  Full  Surrender '  would  open  the 
door  for  all  the  blessings  of  Christianity.  During 
the  singing  of  the  chorus  a  big  blacksmith  was  con- 
verted. He  came  right  down  from  the  gallery 
where  he  was  sitting,  and  asked  if  he  could  say 
something  to  the  people.  He  said  that  twelve 
years  ago  he  had  torn  in  two  a  Testament  that  a 
missionary  gave  him.  He  would  have  nothing  to 
do  with  Christianity.  When  he  heard  that  we  had 
arrived  he  came  down  to  the  meetings,  and  was 
much  impressed  with  what  was  said  about  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  power  to  save  and  keep  a  wicked 
man.  He  said  that  when  he  heard  the  song  /  Sur- 
render All  he  saw  that  that  would  settle  all  his  diffi- 
culties, and  he  decided  there  and  then  to  accept 
Christ. 

"  While  he  was  telling  this  story  the  people  were 
intensely  interested.  They  sat  silent,  and  as  he 
proceeded  the  tears  came  into  their  eyes.  He 
spoke  as  earnestly  as  if  he  had  been  talking  on 
some  vital  political  question.  He  said :  *  I  used  to 
beat  my  wife.  I  used  to  come  home  drunk,  but 
now  I  am  going  home  to  stop  drinking  and  to  lead 
my  wife  to  Jesus  Christ.'  When  I  got  to  the  sta- 
tion he  was  there  with  a  present  for  me.     I  have 


56  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

heard  from  him  since.  He  has  joined  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  has  family  prayers  in  his  home,  and 
is  leading  a  consistent  God-fearing  life. 

''It  Is  Heaven  is  a  hymn  that  helps.  First,  it 
helps  people  to  find  the  Saviour.  During  the  Mel- 
bourne Mission  a  minister  wrote  to  tell  me  that  at 
a  meeting  held  in  his  district  three  men  were  led  to 
Jesus  Christ  through  the  singing  of  this  hymn.  At 
one  of  our  meetings  a  girl  rose  and  sang  a  verse  of 
It  Is  Heaven.  I  asked  her  how  long  she  had  been 
a  Christian,  and  she  said  it  was  since  the  previous 
evening,  when  this  hymn  led  her  to  Christ.  Al- 
ready several  people  have  told  me  that  this  hymn 
has  been  the  means  of  their  conversion.  Second, 
it  helps  people  in  their  work.  A  Melbourne  em- 
ployer allowed  his  employees  an  extra  hour  for 
lunch  in  order  that  they  might  attend  the  noon 
meeting.  I  afterwards  received  a  letter  from  him 
in  which  he  said:  *  Since  the  day  that  my  em- 
ployees attended  the  midday  meeting,  at  which 
they  and  I  got  such  an  uplift,  the  workroom  is  a 
place  of  melody.  They  sing  It  Is  Heaven,  and  it 
is  heaven  to  hear  them  sing.  They  get  through 
more  work,  too.' 

"  Third,  it  helps  people  to  live  right.  In  one  of 
the  Melbourne  suburbs  a  woman  came  into  a 
butcher's  shop  one  morning  with  a  very  happy  ex- 
pression on  her  face.  The  proprietor  of  the  shop, 
who  had  been  a  prominent  worker  In  our  Mission, 
was  surprised  to  see  her  smiling,  because  she  had 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  67 

always  been  very  sad  and  melancholy.  He  asked 
what  was  the  reason  for  the  change.  '  My  hus- 
band was  converted  the  other  night/  she  said. 
*  He  used  to  ill-treat  me  before,  and  our  home  was 
miserable.  But  now  it  is  quite  different.  We 
both  go  about  the  house  singing  It  Is  Heaven,  and 
the  whole  place  seems  brighter.'  This  hymn  has 
helped  others.     It  can  help  you. 

"  You  Must  Do  Something  To-night  is  plainly 
an  invitation  hymn.  It  invites  you  to  accept  Jesus 
Christ  as  your  personal  Saviour.  It  asks  a  ques- 
tion which  must  be  answered  by  each  one  of  us. 
The  question  has  only  two  answers — will  you  re- 
ject, or  will  you  accept?  If  you  do  not  accept 
Him,  then  you  are  rejecting  Him.  There  is  no 
neutral  ground. 

"  It  was  written  by  Mr.  Harkness  in  Philadel- 
phia one  evening,  while  Dr.  Chapman  was  preach- 
ing. The  words  were  suggested  by  the  different 
points  in  Dr.  Chapman's  sermon  on  that  occasion. 
He  was  preaching  along  the  lines  of  decision  for 
Christ,  and  among  other  things  he  said :  *  You 
must  be  for  or  against  Christ;  confess  or  deny 
Him ;  accept  or  reject  Him.'  In  order  to  give  the 
hymn  finality  Mr.  Harkness  wrote  the  last  verse, 
With  God  There  is  no  To-morrozv,  of  his  own 
initiative.  The  music  came  in  the  same  way  as  the 
words,  and  the  song  has  been  used  with  marked 
success  in  the  United  States,  England,  Canada,  and 
Australia. 


68  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

"  One  day  when  we  were  holding  our  great  Mis- 
sion in  Sydney,  a  man  approached  one  of  the  local 
workers  and,  speaking  of  our  midday  meetings, 
said,  '  Do  they  hold  these  meetings  every  day  ?  ' 
Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  man  went 
on,  *  I  knew  nothing  about  these  people.  But  yes- 
terday I  was  sitting  in  Wynyard  Square  reading 
one  of  the  daily  papers,  when  my  eyes  caught  these 
words — 

"  '  Lonely  and  sad,  from  friends  apart, 
God  will  take  care  of  you. 
He  will  give  peace  to  your  aching  heart, 
God  will  take  care  of  you. 

I  have  been  a  lonely  and  a  sad  man.  I  have  a 
wife  and  a  boy  in  the  country,  but  drink  has  been 
my  ruin.  For  some  time  I  have  had  neither  food 
nor  shelter.  I  have  been  sleeping  out,  and  my 
heart  has  just  been  full  of  misery.  But  as  soon  as 
my  eyes  caught  those  words,  and  I  saw  where  they 
had  been  sung,  I  came  at  once  to  the  midday  serv- 
ice in  the  Town  Hall.  There  I  gave  my  heart  to 
God,  and  with  His  help  I  will  be  a  new  man.  For 
some  time  I  have  had  nothing  to  do,  but  if  God  will 
give  me  a  chance  I  will  get  employment,  and  will 
work  hard  until  I  can  get  a  home  for  my  wife  and 
boy,  and  become  a  good,  respectable  citizen.  With 
God's  help  I  intend  to  live  the  life  of  a  Christian.'  " 
During  the  Melbourne  Mission  Mr.  Alexander 
received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  relating  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  story: 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  59 

"  I  was  on  my  way  to  the  city  by  train  to  attend 
the  midday  meeting.  The  carriage  was  well  filled. 
Sitting  next  to  me  was  a  neatly-dressed  man  of 
about  thirty.  To  fill  in  time  I  took  my  hymn-book 
out  of  my  pocket,  and  commenced  turning  over  the 
pages  and  reading  the  different  hymns.  After 
glancing  at  number  thirty-nine,  It  Is  Heaven,  my 
attention  was  attracted  to  the  next  one  by  the  per- 
sonal note  in  it,  and  I  read  it  through  carefully,  at 
the  same  time  trying  to  pick  up  the  tune.  At  the 
next  station  the  other  passengers  alighted,  and  my 
fellow-traveller  and  I  were  left  sitting  close  to- 
gether. I  had  no  idea  that  he  had  been  glancing 
at  the  hymn-book  until,  leaning  over  towards  me, 
he  tapped  his  finger  almost  impatiently  on  the 
sheet  with  the  hymn  O  Friend  Without  Jesus,  and 
said,  '  Excuse  me,  but  do  you  believe  that  ?  '  I 
said  quietly,  *  Yes,  of  course  I  do.'  *  Well,'  he 
said,  ^  I  don't.  And  if  you  had  had  the  experi- 
ences I  have  had,  you  might  drop  it  too.' 

"  I  hardly  knew  what  to  say,  but  finally  I  replied, 
*  Well,  my  friend,  you  have  evidently  had  some 
special  experience  that  has  made  you  embittered 
against  religion.  We  have  a  few  minutes  together 
yet.  Can  we  not  talk  it  out  ?  '  For  a  moment  he 
was  silent,  and  there  was  a  look  in  his  eyes  that 
made  me  sorry  for  him.  Then  he  asked,  *Are  you 
married?'  I  answered,  *  Yes.'  *  Have  you  any 
children?'     I  said,  '  No.' 

"Then  in  a  bitter  way  he  told  me  his  story. 


60  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

'  Five  years  ago/  he  said,  '  I  married  the  best  girl 
in  all  the  world  to  me.  Two  years  later  a  little  boy 
came  to  us.  It  cost  my  little  girl  her  life.  I  was 
almost  crushed,  but  I  had  the  baby  boy.  Then  six 
weeks  afterwards  he,  too,  went.  Both  my  wife 
and  I  attended  church  before  and  after  we  were 
married,  and  lived  good,  straight  lives,  and  I  know 
she  died  what  you  people  would  call  a  Christian. 
But  look  here,  my  friend,  it  is  no  use  preaching  a 
God  of  Love  to  me,  because  there  isn't  any.  From 
then  until  now  I  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  re- 
ligion. All  I  know  is  that  my  wife  and  child  are 
gone  forever.* 

"  I  offered  a  silent  prayer  for  direction,  and  then 
I  said,  with  all  the  kindness  I  could  put  in  my 
voice,  *  I  am  very  sorry,  and  deeply  sympathize 
with  you.  But  might  I  suggest  that  your  heavy 
sorrow  has  blinded  your  higher  and  better  feelings 
a  little?  You  tell  me  your  wife  died  a  Christian, 
and  for  you  that  should  be  the  brightest  and  most 
precious  thing  in  your  memory  of  her.  She,  no 
doubt,  died  thinking  you  were  also  a  Christian.' 
'  Yes,'  he  said,  ^  I  suppose  she  did.'  *  Well,'  I  con- 
tinued, *  I  don't  think  you  really  believe — and  I  say 
it  with  the  sincerest  respect — that  she  died  like  a 
dog,  and  that  was  the  end  of  everything.  Do 
you  ?  '  He  did  not  answer  for  a  minute.  Then 
he  said,  *  I  don't  know  exactly  what  to  think.* 
*  Well,'  I  said,  *  I  know  that  it  is  not  so,  and  so  do 
you.     Have  you  ever  thought  that  you  are  going 


HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED  61 

to  cut  yourself  off  from  her,  and  from  your  baby 
boy,  for  all  eternity,  because  you  cannot  under- 
stand why  God  should  have  taken  them  from  you  ?  * 
*  No,'  he  said,  '  I  had  not  thought  of  that/ 

"As  we  were  getting  close  to  the  city,  I  had  to 
finish  rather  abruptly.  But  I  asked  him  to  go  to 
one  of  the  Mission  meetings  in  the  Exhibition 
Building,  and  attend  the  men's  after-meeting.  He 
did  not  promise,  but  said  that  he  might  go.  I  gave 
him  my  card,  and  asked  him,  as  a  favour,  that  if 
his  position  towards  God  and  Jesus  Christ  was 
changed,  and  he  could  believe  the  words  of  the 
hymn  0  Friend  Without  Jesus,  to  put  the  card  in 
an  envelope  and  post  it  back  to  me.  I  said,  '  Do 
not  send  it  unless  you  mean  it,  but  I  shall  be  glad 
to  know.*  Since  that  day  I  prayed  for  him,  and 
to  my  great  joy,  a  few  days  ago,  I  received  the 
card,  crumpled,  but  nevertheless  the  same  card.'* 

And  so  one  could  go  on — ^to  fill  this  volume.  A 
word  must,  however,  be  said  for  some  of  Mr. 
Alexander's  later  songs.  Chief  among  those  he 
taught  people  to  love  during  the  past  five  or  six 
years  must  be  placed  Out  of  the  Ivory  Palaces, 
written  by  Henry  Barraclough,  a  talented  young 
English  musician,  who  succeeded  Robert  Harkness 
as  Mr.  Alexander's  chief  accompanist.  This  beau- 
tiful production  was  written  by  Mr.  Barraclough 
after  hearing  Dr.  Chapman  preaching  from  the 
text:  "  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh,  and  aloes. 


62  HYMNS  THAT  HAVE  HELPED 

and  cassia,  out  of  the  ivory  palaces.  .  .  ." 
(Ps.  45:  8).  Sung  as  a  duet,  the  hymn  became 
extremely  popular,  and  certainly  ranks  as  one  of 
the  most  distinctive  and  original  numbers  Mr. 
Alexander  ever  used  in  his  ministry  of  sacred  song. 
Then  there  is  Back  to  My  Father  and  Home; 
Have  Thine  Own  Way,  Lord,  and  Just  a  Little 
Help  Prom  You  (all  three  from  the  pen  of  one  of 
the  finest  of  all  the  Gospel  hymn-writers  America 
has  yet  produced — George  C.  Stebbins)  ;  0  Glori- 
ous Day  (words  written  by  Dr.  Wilbur  Chap- 
man) ;  Jesus  is  a  Friend  of  Mine  and  Grace  that  is 
Greater  Than  All  Our  Sin,  both  written  by  the  late 
Dr.  D.  B.  Towner.  I  think  the  former  of  these 
two  last-named  hymns  was  an  especial  favourite 
with  Mr.  Alexander,  for  I  never  heard  him  con- 
duct a  single  song  service,  in  later  days,  without  his 
having  it  sung.  And  if  a  place  be  permitted  for  a 
personal  preference,  I  want  to  make  it  for  the  last- 
named,  as  being  my  own  especial  favourite  of  all 
the  famous  Alexander  Hymns.  It  is  a  saddening 
reflection  that  the  man  who  made  these  beautiful 
words  and  melodies  so  helpful  and  dear  to  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  his  fellows  will  be  seen  and 
heard  on  earth  no  more — a  reflection  which  can 
only  be  brightened  at  all  by  the  thought  that  he  has 
been  translated  to  joyfully  participate  in  singing 

Songs  ever  new,  though  the  ages  grow  old. 


IV 

AT  NORTHFIELD 

DURING  the  period  of  the  World  War  Mr. 
Alexander  was,  for  two  or  three  years 
in  succession,  the  outstanding  figure  at 
the  East  Northfield  General  Christian  Workers' 
Conference.  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him  about  this 
time,  and  for  one  man,  at  least,  East  Northfield 
and  Charles  Alexander  will  always  remain  insepa- 
rably associated. 

For  me,  as  I  believe,  for  hundreds  of  other  peo- 
ple, there  is  no  place  just  like  Northfield.  About 
the  whole  countryside  there  is  something  astonish- 
ingly fragrant — something  that  subtly  affects  the 
soul;  something  that  is  provocative  of  high  re- 
solves and  clarified  aspirations;  something,  more- 
over, that  is  hemmed  in,  and  around,  by  lingering 
and  hallowed  memories  of  the  sainted  dead,  who, 
"  in  the  gray  days  gone,"  served  and  worshipped 
God  amid  its  sylvan  scenes  of  beauty  and  peace. 

After  an  absence  of  a  year,  I  always  feel  the 
combined  appeal  of  its  natural  beauty  and  spiritual 
incentive  descend  upon  me  with  extraordinary 
newness.     One  just  allows  the  place  and  its  memo- 

63 


64  AT  EOETHFIELD 

ries  to  take  him,  to  do  with  him  what  it  Hsteth,  to 
once  more  give  him  a  gHmpse  of  the  Ufe  with 
morning  face  and  clear,  unfahering  eyes. 

At  Northfield,  the  complexities  of  existence  ap- 
pear to  be  suddenly  simplified,  and  one  is  made 
conscious  of  a  great  inrush  of  physical  and  mental, 
peace    which    does    not — thank    God! — pass    all 
human  understanding. 

With  this  sense  of  tranquillity  comes,  too,  an  air 
of  delicious  freedom.  The  glamour  of  the  place 
does  not  seize  one  in  a  clutch  of  tenacious  sanctity. 
At  times  it  would  seem  to  do  little  more  than  just 
leave  one  alone — to  influence  him  by  simply  being 
wonderful,  beautiful,  unself-consciously  sacred. 
Like  the  twilight  of  a  windless  evening,  it  purifies, 
vouchsafing  lessons  of  simplicity,  calmness  and  en- 
durance, enabling  one  to  taste  something  of  the 
real  joie  de  vive. 

No;  there  is  no  denying  the  magnetic  spell  this 
gathering-place  of  God's  people  in  the  heart  of 
New  England  can  fling  over  minds  and  souls  ren- 
dered susceptible  to  spiritual  influences.  At  all 
hours  of  the  day  I  have  felt  it  laid  upon  me:  In 
the  pearly  gray  of  the  dawn;  as  the  surrounding 
hills  lifted  themselves  drowsily  out  of  the  mists  of 
morning;  amid  the  golden  glory  of  meridian  splen- 
dour ;  when  the  western  sky  was  afiame  with  a  fiery 
sunset ;  in  the  fast- falling  twilight ;  as  the  dust  of 


AT  NOETHFIELD  65 

little  stars  began  to  bespangle  the  deep  azure  of  the 
skies,  with  all  the  wonder  of  their  shining ;  'neath 
the  witcheries  of  a  silver  summer  moon;  while  the 
music  of  the  night-winds,  stirring  softly  in  the 
towering  pine-tops,  chanted  a  haunting  requiem 
for  the  dying  of  the  day.  In  all  these  changing 
phases  of  faultless  summer-time,  the  spell  of 
Northfield  has  been  laid  upon  me,  bringing  God 
strangely  and  strongly  near. 

The  very  buildings  that  stud  the  seminary  cam- 
pus form  a  sort  of  sign-manual  of  things  that  en- 
dure— calm,  without  a  touch  of  coldness;  strong, 
without  a  trace  of  hardness.  Set  in  a  harmony  of 
gray  and  green,  of  stone  and  verdure,  they  wear 
that  simple  dignity  which,  try  as  it  may,  the  human 
mind  can  only  associate  with  old,  well-tried  beliefs, 
such  as  are  not  moved,  because  they  rest  on  foun- 
dations that  are  eternal.  They  are  the  outward 
symbols  of  a  great  man's  faith,  and  of  hearts  en- 
trained by  God's  good  grace  to  maintain  and  per- 
petuate the  work  of  his  hands,  and  to  see  to  it  that 
the  fruit  of  his  prayers  and  labours  "  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth." 

It  was  into  this  peculiarly  rich  and  congenial  set- 
ting that  Mr.  Alexander's  equally  peculiar  and  con- 
genial gifts  were  projected  during  the  days  when 
the  red  maw  of  war  clutched  grippingly  about  the 
throat  of  the  world.  All  who  were  present,  and 
remain  alive  to  testify  to  the  fact,  know  how  this 


66  AT  NORTHFIELD 

one  man's  ministry  contributed  to  the  success  of 
the  Conference.  I  have  introduced  Mr.  Alexan- 
der's association  with  Northfield  during  the  War 
period  for  several  reasons — all  more  or  less  per- 
sonal. For  many  years  past,  my  friends  have  been 
making  annual  pilgrimages  to  Northfield,  always 
to  return  loudly  sounding  its  praises.  Down  to 
the  year  1915,  however,  opportunity  had  never 
served  me  to  similarly  favourable  ends.  But  in 
the  summer  of  that  year  I  attended  the  General 
Conference  for  the  first  time.  Nothing  need  be  said 
here  concerning  the  poignancy  of  first  impressions 
further  than  the  bare  statement  that  mine  of 
Northfield — coloured  and  deepened  as  they  were 
by  certain  immediately  personal  circumstances, 
such  as  can  be  given  no  record  here — will  last, 
probably,  as  long  as  I  am  able  to  retain  memories 
of  any  sort  of  earthly  happenings.  And  that  year 
Mr.  Alexander  had  charge  of  the  song  services  at 
Northfield,  for  the  first  time  in  quite  a  number  of 
years. 

For  the  "  platform  *'  of  the  famous  New  Eng- 
land gathering,  those  war-years  were  pretty  lean 
ones.  English  preachers,  always  conspicuous  in 
its  list  of  speakers,  were,  of  course,  not  available; 
while,  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  "  native  talent  "of 
the  approved  Northfield  quality  and  variety,  was 
not  easily  obtainable.  And  all  who  were  present 
at  the  General  Conferences,  and  who  remain  to 
recall  the  experience,  know  how  splendidly  Alex- 


AT  NOETHFIELD  67 

ander's  peculiar  gifts  and  ministry  contributed  to 
the  success  of  the  meetings.  Upon  hundreds  of 
people  he  made  new  and  indehble  impressions, 
while,  for  many  others,  he  rendered  memories  of 
Northfield — always  precious  and  fragrant — richly 
and  doubly  dear. 

The  services  of  which  Mr.  Alexander  had  charge 
were  the  first  I  had  seen  him  conduct  alone — that 
is,  without  his  being  joined  up  to  some  other  fa- 
mous evangelist,  and  they  proved  a  positive  revela- ' 
tion  of  versatility,  artistry,  fervour  and  reverence. 
They  were  not  just  some  species  of  Gesang  Verein 
— singing-meetings  in  which  religiously  inclined 
people  might  foregather  to  sit  (as  the  old  Meth- 
odist hymn  has  it)  "  and  sing  themselves  away,  to 
everlasting  bliss."  Not  by  any  means.  Right 
throughout,  they  were  charged  with  lofty,  spiritual 
incentive,  combined  in  by  song,  testimony,  prayer, 
definite,  pointed  evangelistic  appeals,  over  all  of 
which  brooded  a  tangible,  spiritual  atmosphere. 
And  their  gracious  influences  were  continued  long 
after  the  meetings  were  over,  in  acts  of  fellowship 
and  service.  They  enabled  hundreds  of  Christian 
men  and  women  to  soar  a  step  higher;  to  see  the 
things  of  the  soul  with  a  wider,  clearer  vision;  to 
return  to  their  respective  spheres  of  activity  forti- 
fied by  a  new  determination  to  make  something 
richer,  stronger,  finer  out  of  life  and  resolved  to 
battle  more  valiantly  than  heretofore  with  the  peri- 
odical staleness  and  ennui  which  ever  and  anon 


68  AT  NORTHFIELD 

waylay  even  the  most  consecrated  of  God's  chil^ 
dren.  A  Christian  experience  lacking  sunshine, 
brightness,  melody,  is,  in  reality,  no  experience  at 
all.  And  it  is  employing  no  hyperbole  to  assert 
that  towards  the  attainment  and  perpetuation  of 
*'  sunshine  in  the  soul,"  "  Charlie "  Alexander's 
song  services  at  East  Northfield  invariably  and  in- 
evitably tended.  I  have  been  privileged  to  see  and 
hear  "  Charlie  "  many  times  subsequent  to  the  date 
of  the  meetings  I  have  just  been  describing.  But 
(as  it  seems  to  me)  never  since  that  time  have  I 
felt  myself  quite  so  acutely  conscious  of  the  unique 
contribution  his  manifold  gifts  made  to  tke  men 
and  women  who  came  within  the  radius  of  his 
sunny  ministry  during  those  dark  and  terrible  days. 
For  dark  and  terrible  they  were  for  most  of  us — 
days  whose  every  dawn  brought  chilling,  numbing 
apprehension,  whose  every  sun  went  down  in  blood 
and  tears.  And  into  them  this  man  came,  cheery, 
buoyant,  bearer  of  a  message  for  wounded  hearts 
and  lacerated  souls.  In  such  a  spirit,  and  at  such 
a  time,  I  always  want  to  remember  Charles  Alex- 
ander,— a  minstrel  singing  blithely  to  his  fellow- 
pilgrims  as  they  journeyed  onward  in  the  darkness 
towards  the  love  and  light  of  the  coming  dawn. 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

CHARLES  ALEXANDER'S  crowning 
glory  was  his  intense  and  lifelong  love  for 
God's  Holy  Word.  In  later  years,  this 
love  developed  into  a  veritable  passion.  Every- 
where he  went,  everywhere  he  worked,  saw  him 
urging,  with  a  consuming  earnestness,  both  crowds 
and  individuals  to  saturate  themselves  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  Living  Word.  And,  in  all  prob- 
ability, this  particular  phase  of  his  life-work  will 
prove  to  be  his  lasting  memorial.  In  the  very  na- 
ture of  things,  much  of  his  other  work,  wonderful 
as  it  was,  had  to  be  of  an  intensely  personal 
and  ephemeral  order.  It  is  not  possible,  for  in- 
stance, to  convey  anything  approaching  an  ade- 
quate impression  of  the  magnetic  spell  he  could 
cast  over  a  vast  audience,  to  any  man  or  woman 
who  never  saw  or  heard  him  do  it.  Nor  can  those 
who  enjoyed  no  access  to  his  immediate  fellowship 
conceive  anything  of  the  wizardry  of  his  personal 
charm.  For  such  as  these,  he  must  remain  a  pic- 
turesque tradition  of  modern  evangelism.     But  in 

69 


70     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

the  efforts  he  put  forth  on  behalf  of  the  aims  and 
purposes  of  the  Pocket  Testament  League,  he  be- 
came known  to  tens  of  thousands  who  never  saw, 
him  in  the  flesh,  but  who,  in  sheer  gratitude  for 
the  added  blessing  a  daily  companionship  and  com- 
munion with  the  Holy  Scriptures  has  brought 
them,  will  permit  their  memories  to  linger  in  loving 
recollection  about  the  name  of  Charles  Alexander. 
For  this  organization  has  for  its  only  fundamental 
that  which  incarnates  and  interprets  the  will  of 
Heaven  as  it  should  be  known  and  done  through- 
out the  world.  And  it  links  together  millions  of 
people  bound  by  the  tenets  of  no  college  of  cardi- 
nals, no  diet  of  ecclesiastics,  no  Westminster  as- 
sembly of  divines,  no  pope,  no  bench  of  prelates, 
no  congress,  no  conference,  but  only  by  a  universal 
consciousness  of  God,  and  His  interpretation 
through  Jesus  Christ,  as  revealed  in  His  Holy 
Word.  To  the  furtherance  of  this  League,  Alex- 
ander gave  of  the  best  that  was  in  him ;  and  he  ac- 
complished a  great  work  which  (as  I  see  it)  is  not 
destined  to  pass  away. 

In  common  with  many  another  far-reaching 
movement,  the  Pocket  Testament  League  was  born 
in  a  day  of  small  beginnings.  As  stated  in  numer- 
ous publications  put  out  by  the  organization,  its 
founder  was  a  young  schoolgirl,  residing  in  the 
city  of  Birmingham — the  capital  of  the  English 
Midlands.     When  only  twelve  years  of  age,  this 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE      71 

little  girl  pledged  herself,  and  her  future  years,  to 
the  service  of  Jesus  Christ.  Speedily,  she  became 
possessed  by  the  desire  to  lead  her  schoolfellows  to 
the  Saviour  she,  herself,  had  found.  She  discov- 
ered, moreover,  that  the  practice  of  carrying  a 
pocket  Testament,  not  only  for  her  own  reading  in 
leisure  moments,  but  in  order  to  create  and  foster 
an  interest  in  God's  Word  among  her  fellow- 
pupils,  to  be  of  inestimable  value.  Out  of  this  a 
small  society  developed,  the  members  forming  it 
agreeing  to  carry  and  read  a  New  Testament.  The 
little  band  of  Scripture  readers  grew  steadily,  until 
when,  some  years  later,  its  founder  left  the  school, 
it  could  claim  upwards  of  sixty  members. 

The  little  English  girl  who  founded  the  Pocket 
Testament  League  was  Helen  Cadbury,  who,  in 
after  years,  became  Mrs.  Charles  Alexander. 
Almost  immediately  after  his  marriage  to  Miss 
Cadbury,  the  American  song-leader  caught  a  vision 
of  the  wonderful,  far-reaching  possibilities  of  this 
Bible-reading  circle,  not  only  as  a  means  to  be 
used  in  reaching  thousands  of  unconverted  men  and 
women  in  the  great  missions  in  which  he  par- 
ticipated, but  for  the  building  up  and  stabilizing 
Christian  believers  in  faith  to  which  they  had  al- 
ready given  their  adherence.  He  began  at  once  to 
utilize  the  League  methods  in  his  evangelistic  work. 
The  number  of  Its  members  increased  with  extra- 
ordinary rapidity,  until,  within  a  very  short  time, 
scores  of  thousands  of  names  had  been  enrolled. 


72     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

It  was  during  the  great  Chapman-Alexander 
Mission  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1908,  that  the 
Pocket  Testament  League  was  formally  launched, 
as  a  world-wide  Bible-reading  movement.  The 
record  of  its  wonderful,  uninterrupted  success  in 
Great  Britain,  Australia,  Canada,  Japan,  China, 
Korea,  Norway,  Syria,  as  well  as  in  every  corner 
of  the  United  States,  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  and  romantic  chapters  in  the  story  of 
modern  evangelism. 

Mrs.  Besse  McAnlis,  who  under  Mr.  Alex- 
ander's direction  for  years  past  has  given  herself 
over  with  the  greatest  devotion  to  the  work  of  the 
League,  says  of  its  character  and  achievements: 

**'The  Pocket  Testament  League  makes  its  appeal 
to  the  young  and  old,  and  is  as  workable  in  the 
Bible  Class  and  Brotherhood  as  in  the  Sunday 
School  and  Primary  Classes.  It  supplies  the  need 
of  the  aged  Christian  as  fully  as  it  satisfies  every 
requirement  of  the  young  convert.  It  establishes 
an  ideal  point  of  contact  between  the  Christian 
worker  and  the  unsaved  seeker  after  truth.  Its 
simplicity  commends  it  to  All  Classes  while  the 
fact  that  there  are  no  fees  of  any  kind  is  an  addi- 
tional commendation  of  the  movement.  All  that 
is  necessary  is,  that  those  desirous  of  becoming 
members  should  honorably  and  faithfully  fulfil  the 
covenant  they  set  their  hands  to.  The  simple  con- 
ditions of  membership  as  embodied  in  the  League 
Pledge  reads: 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE  73 


POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

MEMBERSHIP     CARD 

I  HEREBY  accept  membership  in  the  Pocket 
Testament  League  by  making  it  the  rule  of 
my  life  to  read  at  least  one  chapter  in  the 
Bible  each  day,  and  to  carry  a  Bible  or  Testa- 
ment  with  me  wherever  I  go. 


Name. 
Date,, 


"  The  fact  that  the  League  is  a  movement  with  a 
specific  object  in  view  makes  the  pledge  impera- 
tive. The  pledge,  which  membership  involves, 
might  be  termed  a  governing  principle  rather  than 
an  unbreakable  law,  exacting  that  one  should  never, 
under  any  circumstances,  miss  a  day.  All  that  is 
required  is  an  honest  endeavour  to  make  it  the  rule 
of  one's  life  to  read  and  carry  God's  Word. 

"Of  course  there  are  those  who  take  exception 
to  the  pledge,  but  objections  were  made  to  be  over- 
come. For  instance,  one  meets  the  man  who  can- 
not join  because  he  has  no  room  in  his  pockets  for 
a  Testament.  When  it  is  pointed  out  that  the 
average  man  has,  as  a  general  thing,  about  four- 
teen pockets  in  his  clothes,  It  Is,  after  all,  not  a  very 
great  difficulty  for  him  to  find  room  in  one  of  these 


74      THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

for  a  small  copy  of  the  New  Testament.  Ladies 
overcome  the  difficulty  by  either  carrying  a  Testa- 
ment in  their  hand-bags,  or  improvising  a  special 
*  patch  pocket '  for  the  purpose. 

"'The  Pocket  Testament  League  does  not  conflict 
with  any  existing  Society  which  has  for  its  objects 
the  study  and  propagation  of  God's  Word.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  found  to  increase  the  efficiency 
of  any  such  organization,  the  mere  fact  of  carry- 
ing a  Testament  enabling  every  spare  moment  to 
be  utilized  for  reading  and  meditation. 

"  The  League  gives  the  Christian  more  and  bet- 
ter opportunities  for  service.  There  are  many  who 
would  do  definite  Christian  work  if  they  knew 
just  what  to  do.  To  such  the  League  opens  up  at 
once  a  direct  avenue,  simple  and  yet  effective, 
whereby  they  may  do  their  part  in  extending  the 
Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  fact,  the  League's 
plan  of  operation  is  so  very  simple  that  all  may 
take  advantage  of  the  opportunities  to  promote  it, 
and  by  this  means  bring  the  Bible  with  its  many 
messages  of  hope  and  comfort,  and  its  wonderful 
transforming  power,  close  to  the  life  of  each  per- 
son secured  as  a  member  of  the  League.  It  en- 
ables the  soul-winner  to  have  God's  Word  always 
at  hand  and  heart  when  dealing  with  the  unsaved. 
Indeed  there  is  hardly  any  limit  to  the  possibilities 
for  good  offered  by  the  League.  It  creates  and 
maintains  spiritual  revival  on  every  hand. 
Branches  of  the  League  are  to  be  found  in  al- 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     75 

most  every  conceivable  community  and  in  all  de- 
nominations. Especially  flourishing  branches  ex- 
istent in  thousands  of  Sunday  Schools,  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies,  Y.  W.  and  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s.  Ardent 
members  may  be  found  v^ritnessing  for  Christ  in 
the  ofHces,  schools,  factories,  colleges,  homes, 
among  policemen,  firemen,  street  carmen,  soldiers 
in  camps  and  barracks,  sailors  on  the  spreading 
main." 

One  comes  across  ardent  and  enthusiastic 
workers  of  the  League  everywhere.  Mr.  Alex- 
ander infused  scores  of  young  men  and  women 
with  something  of  his  own  zeal  for  the  work.  I 
know,  personally,  of  one  instance  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  Miss  Elizabeth  Wyburn,  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  H.  Wyburn  of  the  Jerry 
McAuley  Mission,  has,  in  a  quiet,  unostentatious 
fashion,  "  signed  up  "  upwards  of  thirteen  hundred 
members  of  the  League — a  splendid  record  for  a 
girl  not  yet  twenty  years  of  age ! 

During  the  Great  War,  the  Pocket  Testament 
League  was  blessed  of  God  in  extraordinary  fash- 
ion. During  the  five  years  of  the  conflict,  about  one 
million  British  and  American  soldiers  joined  the 
League  and  received  Testaments.  At  one  period 
membership  cards  of  the  League  were  being  re- 
ceived from  the  camps,  etc.,  at  the  rate  of  1,000 
per  day.  Thousands  of  these  men  also  signified 
their  definite  acceptance  of  Christ  as  their  personal 
Saviour. 


76     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

Equally  wonderful  work  was  accomplished 
among  the  American  forces.  Everywhere,  the 
men  showed  an  eager  disposition  to  become  mem- 
bers of  the  League,  and  thousands  of  Testaments 
were  distributed  in  the  U.  S.  camps  and  navy 
yards.  The  League  worked  in  closest  harmony 
with  the  Chaplains  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  for  the 
salvation  and  growth  in  grace  of  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  of  the  Republic.  Testaments  were  given 
to  the  soldiers  who  joined  the  League,  many  of 
whom  made  a  decision  for  Christ,  and  when  the 
war  was  over  went  back  to  civil  life,  carrying  their 
Testament  and  their  resolves  with  them.  And 
What  shall  be  said  of  the  gallant  lads  who  were 
called  up  to  make  the  great  sacrifice?  Only  this 
need  be  said.  Thousands  were  members  of  the 
League,  and  carried  with  them  into  that  last,  grim 
"  rendezvous  with  Death,"  the  little  League  edition 
of  the  story  of  the  World's  Greatest  Sacrifice,  who 
"  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  as  a  ransom  for  many." 

In  his  highly  interesting  book,  The  Meaning  of 
the  War  for  Religious  Education,  wherein  he  re- 
counts some  of  his  experiences  as  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
worker  with  the  American  Expeditionary  Force, 
Dr.  Robert  Wells  Veach,  of  Philadelphia,  pays  the 
following  high  tribute — a  tribute  not  without  a 
touch  of  humour — ^to  the  work  of  the  League 
among  the  boys  at  the  front: 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMEltTT  LEAGUE     77 

"There  are  some  people  who  are  just  a  bit  cynical 
as  to  the  real  place  which  the  Pocket  Testament 
League  played  in  the  lives  of  the  soldiers.  On  the 
whole,  it  was  far  larger  than  we  are  inclined  to 
think,  as  the  following  incidents  would  seem  to 
indicate : 

"  *  What  have  you  done  with  your  Pocket  Testa- 
ment, Buddy  ?  '  I  asked  one  day  of  a  bright,  clean- 
cut  lad  whom  I  had  come  to  know  very  intimately. 
*  On  the  level,  now,  what  have  you  done  with  it  ?  * 

"A  faint  flush  spread  over  his  face,  his  eyes 
dropped  for  an  instant,  then  looking  straight  at 
me  he  replied: 

"  *  I  don't  mind  telling  yo'o..  I  got  hard  up  for 
cigarette-paper  one  day,  and  unable  to  find  any, 
I  used  a  leaf  from  my  Pocket  Testament.  It 
worked  so  well  that  I  tried  another  and  another. 
To  be  perfectly  frank  with  you,'  he  continued  with 
just  a  suspicion  of  sly  wit  as  he  glanced  around  at 
the  other  fellows,  *  I  have  smoked  my  Testament 
as  far  as  the  sixth  chapter  of  Hebrews.' 

"  The  laugh  was  at  my  expense.  About  that 
there  could  be  no  mistake,  and  it  was  perfectly 
plain  that  the  lad's  companions  were  waiting  to  see 
how  I  would  recover  myself.  I  confess  I  was 
helpless  for  a  moment,  then  my  memory  served 
me  well.  I  recalled  a  striking  sentence  in  the  sixth 
chapter. 

"  *  I  like  your  frankness,  old  man,'  I  said,  *  but 
allow  me  one  favour,  won't  you  ?    Let  me  read  to 


78     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

you  a  verse  from  the  sixth  chapter  of  Hebrews 
before  you  smoke  it/ 

'' '  That  is  fair  enough/  said  one  of  the  group, 
and  he  evidently  echoed  the  judgment  of  all.  My 
friend  also  consented  readily,  so  I  took  my  own 
Testament  from  my  pocket  and  read  as  follows: 

"  '  For  as  touching  those  who  once  tasted  the 
good  word  of  God  and  then  fell  away,  it  is  im- 
possible to  renew  them  again  tmto  repentance,  see- 
ing they  crucify  to  themselves  the  Son  of  God 
afresh  and  put  him  to  an  open  shame.  .  .  . 
But,  beloved,  we  are  persuaded  better  things  of 
you.' 

"  As  I  read  the  last  sentence  my  eyes  met  his 
with  a  smile  on  my  face  and  a  note  of  interrogation 
and  expectancy  in  my  voice.  There  was  dead  si- 
lence for  a  moment.  Conflicting  emotions  strug- 
gled within  him  for  expression.  They  passed 
across  his  countenance  like  shadows  flitting  on  a 
sunlit  wall, — amazement,  consternation,  pain,  re- 
pentance, fear,  courage,  joy.  Then  he  spoke  with 
a  courage  so  characteristic  of  thousands  of  our 
young  fellows:  *  Leave  it  to  me,  mister.  Til  never 
smoke  that  chapter  or  any  other.' 

"  It  is  impossible  to  estimate  accurately  the  num- 
ber of  soldiers  In  France  who  had  Pocket  Testa- 
ments; perhaps  one  million,  three  hundred  thou- 
sand. Several  hundred  thousand  had  prayer  books 
or  bound  portions  of  the  Scripture.  Some  of  these 
were  seldom  if  ever  read,  a  few  were  abused ;  but. 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     79 

far  more  than  we  think,  the  large  majority  of  them 
were  highly  treasured.  One  day  at  Nevers  word 
came  from  the  Salvage  Office  that  we  could  have 
three  boxes  of  Testaments  by  sending  for  them. 
We  sent  at  once,  as  we  needed  them  badly.  Upon 
opening  the  boxes  we  found  not  new  editions  as  we 
had  supposed,  but  three  hundred  and  eighty-five 
mud-discoloured,  blood-stained  Testaments  from 
the  battle-field  of  Chateau-Thierry.  It  seemed  to 
me  that  I  never  handled  such  sacred  things.  My 
friend  and  I  could  scarcely  see  through  the  mist 
that  came  into  our  eyes.  We,  too,  stained  many 
of  them  with  our  tears.  Numerous  passages  were 
underlined,  the  names  of  parents  and  pastors  filled 
the  front  pages.  Three  of  them  bore  the  marks 
of  Greek  letter  fraternities.  On  the  inside  of  the 
cover  of  one,  deeply  stained  in  blood,  I  read  these 
words :  *  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto 
the  end.'  " 

Concerning  the  general  effectiveness  of  the 
Pocket  Testament  League  as  an  agency  for  spread- 
ing the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  Charles  Gallaudet 
Trumbull,  editor  of  The  Sunday  School  Times,  has 
said: 

"  The  Pocket  Testament  League  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  evidences,  since  the  days  of  Pen- 
tecost, of  the  eager  desire  and  unswerving  purpose 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  use  the  Word  of  God  in 
evangelizing  the  world.    It  seems  a  safe  statement 


80     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

to  make,  that  no  other  one  movement  or  plan, 
since  the  general  circulation  of  the  English  Bible 
commenced  in  the  fourteenth  century,  has  been 
so  blessed  of  God  for  soul-winning  and  the  build- 
ing of  Christian  character  as  has  the  work  of  the 
Pocket  Testament  League. 

"  Since  it  was  formally  launched  as  a  world-wide 
movement,  it  has  literally  swept  on  its  way,  bless- 
ing thousands  upon  thousands  of  souls,  saving  the 
lost  and  deepening  and  enriching  the  life  of  the 
saved,  just  because  it  opens  lives  to  two  vital  and 
commonly  neglected  things :  regular  feeding  on  the 
Word  of  God,  and  habitual  sharing  of  this  bless- 
ing with  others. 

"  Like  all  the  great  plans  of  God,  it  Is  simplicity 
itself.  To  become  a  member  of  the  Pocket  Testa- 
ment League  you  agree  to  do  two  things :  to  read  at 
least  one  chapter  in  the  Bible  each  day,  and  to 
carry  a  Testament  or  a  Bible  with  you  wherever 
you  go.  An  additional  feature  often  follows, 
though  it  is  not  made  a  part  of  the  pledge:  mem- 
bers of  the  League  naturally  get  into  the  habit  of 
using  God's  Word  to  win  the  unsaved,  and  one  of 
the  most  simple  and  natural  ways  of  doing  this  is 
to  secure  new  members  of  the  League  by  giving 
away  Pocket  Testaments. 

"  It  does  seem  as  though  there  had  never  before 
been  suggested  a  simpler,  saner,  more  richly 
blessed  personal  work,  open  to  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  the  kingdom  who  wants  to  do  some- 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     81 

thing  for  the  Master,  than  an  active  membership 
in  the  Pocket  Testament  League.  It  is  such  a 
simple  form  of  service  that  no  one  who  goes  into  it 
is  prepared  for  the  stupendous  results  that  follow. 
When  we  work  with  supernatural  forces  we  must 
expect  supernatural  results. 

"  Wherever  there  are  human  beings,  there  the 
Word  of  God,  as  the  Sword  of  the  Spirit,  can  cut 
deep  and  sure  and  savingly.  Beggars  on  the  street, 
porters  on  the  trains,  tramcar  men,  theological 
students,  evangelists,  ministers,  newspaper  men, 
Sunday-school  teachers  and  pupils,  active  business 
men  and  shut-ins,  through  the  whole  gamut  of  hu- 
man life,  this  marvellously  simple  and  miraculously 
blessed  form  of  service  is  spreading.  It  is  bound 
to  be  so,  as  surely  as  the  Bible  itself  meets  the  need 
of  all  mankind." 

To  the  promotion  of  the  work  of  the  Pocket 
Testament  League,  Mr.  Alexander's  last  days  were 
specially  devoted.  He  had  had  laid  upon  his  spirit 
the  vision  of  a  great  Bible  Revival  throughout  the 
entire  world.  By  every  means  at  his  disposal  he 
fostered  the  idea.  Meetings  were  held  in  various 
parts  of  the  country ;  the  sympathy  and  support  of 
prominent  Christian  laymen  were  sought  and  en- 
listed. So  successfully  had  the  work  been  prose- 
cuted that  prior  to  Mr.  Alexander's  leaving  the 
United  States  on  what  proved  to  be  his  last  voyage 
to  England,  the  plans  for  the  specific  furtherance  of 


82     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

the  Bible  Revival  had  been  formulated  and  passed 
over  into  the  hands  of  a  responsible  committee, 
whose  business  and  joy  it  will  be  to  see  to  it  that  the 
projects  and  ideals  of  the  devoted  man,  now  called 
to  higher  service,  are  carried  forward. 

A  striking  endorsement  of  the  value  of  the  work 
of  the  Pocket  Testament  League  was  accorded  it 
by  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  held  at  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  during 
the  month  of  May,  1920.  This  great  gathering 
adopted  the  following  resolution  concerning  the 
League: 

"  This  General  Conference  heartily  endorses  the 
Pocket  Testament  League  as  an  agency  of  religious 
education  and  evangelism.  We  urge  upon  all  our 
pastors  and  personal  workers  to  help  recruit  this 
growing  army  of  Bible  readers  who  are  helping  to 
swell  the  current  of  Christian  conversation  and 
create  a  kingdom  climate  everywhere." 

Dr.  George  Elliott,  elected  at  this  Conference  to 
succeed  Dr.  William  Valentine  Kelley  as  Editor  of 
The  Methodist  Review,  moved  the  adoption  of  the 
resolution. 

"  About  four  years  ago,"  said  Dr.  Elliott, 
"  Bishop  Henderson  signed  up  a  group  of  ministers 
and  laymen,  about  thirty  or  forty  of  us,  in  a  League 
called  the  Pocket  Testament  League.  I  began  to 
carry  the  Testament  then  wherever  I  went.  I  had 
done  it  more  or  less  before,  but  it  became  a  steady 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     83 

habit.  When  the  war  began  and  our  boys  went  to 
the  front  I  was  able  personally  to  give  to  the  boys 
myself  more  than  one  hundred  Pocket  Testaments 
with  the  pledge  inside  of  it  that  they  would  read  a 
portion  of  it  every  day.  I  wish  I  could  spend  an 
afternoon  with  you  some  time  and  read  you  the 
letters  I  got  from  the  front  as  to  their  reading  of 
it.  From  the  men  who  were  on  the  front,  some- 
where in  the  Argonne,  comes  testimony  that  they 
came  out  through  that  reading  into  the  light  and 
liberty  of  the  Gospel. 

"A  few  weeks  ago  there  came  to  the  city  of 
Detroit  [at  the  time  Dr.  Elliott  made  the  address 
he  was  stationed  in  this  city]  Mr.  Charles  Alex- 
ander, the  great  Gospel  singer,  to  lead  in  a  great 
evangelistic  campaign  at  the  North  Woodward 
Church,  and  he  brought  with  him  this  great  Bible 
reading  propaganda,  and  during  that  campaign 
24,000  men  and  women  signed  up  as  members  of 
the  Pocket  Testament  League.  You  can  go  into 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Detroit  to-day,  one 
of  the  greatest  commercial  clubs  in  America,  and 
you  will  see  men  who  will  get  together  reading  the 
Pocket  Testament,  and  it  will  be  the  means  of 
starting  a  religious  conversation.  Every  one  of 
us  has  fourteen  pockets  at  least ;  one  of  them  ought 
to  be  dedicated  to  Almighty  God,  and  to  have  a 
consecrated  pocket  to  hold  the  Testament,  you  will 
have  to  consecrate  another  pocket  to  hold  the 
purse. 


84      THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

''  A  few  weeks  ago  in  an  evangelistic  meeting  in 
Detroit  I  made  the  appeal  and  there  came  to  the 
altar  twelve  Boy  Scouts  in  uniform,  and  at  that 
altar  every  one  accepted  Jesus  Christ  and  we  put  a 
Testament  in  their  pockets  and  they  pledged  to 
read  it  every  day.  The  other  day  one  of  these 
boys  came  to  me — a  high-school  boy  who  is  getting 
just  beyond  the  Scout  age,  but  who  still  is  of  the 
bunch — and  he  told  me  he  believed  the  Lord  had 
called  him  to  the  Christian  ministry.  I  move  the 
adoption  of  this  resolution.  And  more  than  its 
adoption,  I  believe  that  it  will  be  the  means  of 
constant  evangelism  wherever  it  goes." 

Dr.  George  Bickley,  then  of  Philadelphia,  but 
now  Bishop  Bickley,  added  this  word  of  commen- 
dation and  support: 

"  There  is  a  phase  of  the  work  in  connection 
with  the  Pocket  Testament  League  that  should  be 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  laymen  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference.  I  have  the  honour  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia  to  be  an  associate  member  of  the 
Council  of  the  Pocket  Testament  League.  Since 
the  war  has  closed  this  group  of  laymen  are  going 
into  industrial  establishments  and  holding  meet- 
ings during  the  noon  hour,  inviting  men  to  sign 
the  pledge  of  the  Pocket  Testament  League;  ask- 
ing them  to  make  an  immediate  acceptance  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Saviour.  In  one  of  the  great  estab- 
lishments where  at  least  twenty  meetings  have  been 
held,  we  have  the  testimony  of  the  manager  of  the 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     85 

great  Budd  establishment  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia that  it  has  revolutionized  many  of  the  depart- 
ments there ;  that  before  men  who  had  spent  their 
time  in  profanity  or  in  playing  cards  during  the 
noon  hour  are  now  gathered  together  and  some 
one  is  appointed  as  leader  and  they  are  reading  the 
New  Testament,  and  the  men  are  having  Bible 
classes  organized  in  industrial  establishments. 

"  This  was  done,  for  instance,  in  the  city  of 
Coatesville,  a  manufacturing  town  of  about  15,- 
000  people.  One  of  the  great  laymen  there,  Mr. 
Charles  L.  Huston,  said  that  he  would  underwrite 
the  cost.  Every  family  was  canvassed  and  every 
man  was  solicited  to  join  the  League  and  that  he 
should  read  a  portion  of  the  Testament  every  day. 
And  in  that  city  five  thousand  copies  of  the  Testa- 
ment were  distributed  and  pledges  received.  I  am 
taking  the  time  of  the  General  Conference  to  say 
these  things  because  I  believe  it  is  well  worth  while 
in  every  one  of  our  large  cities  for  a  group  of  our 
Christian  laymen  to  get  together  and  organize  this 
work  and  arrange  to  hold  evangelistic  services  of 
this  kind  in  industrial  establishments,  and  to  put 
the  Word  of  God  into  the  hands  of  men  that  they 
might  read  it  and  find  the  way  to  life  and  peace." 

Then  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  held  at  Philadelphia,  May, 
1920,  passed  the  following  resolution :  "  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
U.  S.  A.  heartily  endorses  the  Pocket  Testament 


86     THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE 

League  as  an  agency  of  evangelism  and  religious 
education,  and  special  attention  is  called  to  the  work 
which  is  being  done  in  America's  factories  and 
mills  by  the  Business  Men's  Council  of  the  Pocket 
Testament  League  by  placing  the  Word  of  God  in 
the  hands  of  our  toilers  and  winning  them  for  the 
Master.  The  only  solution  for  the  world  troubles 
is  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  as  revealed  in  His 
Word." 

Still  further  testimony  of  the  recognition  of  the 
work  of  the  Pocket  Testament  League  is  every- 
where receiving  comes  from  the  Far  West.  Some- 
thing more  than  a  year  ago  the  Pocket  Testament 
League  was  made  an  official  part  of  the  practical 
work  program  of  the  Los  Angeles  Bible  Institute. 
In  the  report  recently  issued  by  the  Institute  show- 
ing the  number  of  conversions  brought  about  by 
each  department  during  the  past  year,  the  Pocket 
Testament  League  leads  all  the  others,  with  over 
sixteen  hundred  decisions  for  Christ  wrought 
through  this  agency. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  overestimate  what  the 
Pocket  Testament  League  owes  to  Charles  Alex- 
ander as  well  as  to  his  great  colleague,  Wilbur 
Chapman.  Both  men  are  gone,  leaving  (as  it 
seems  to  me)  no  adequate  successors.  But  it  has 
to  be  remembered  that  while  "  God  buries  His 
workmen,  He  carries  on  His  work,"  and  those  to 
whom  has  been  entrusted  the  responsibility  of  this 
great  Movement,  can  thank  God  for  the  example 


THE  POCKET  TESTAMENT  LEAGUE     87 

and  the  inspiration  of  the  lives  laid  down,  and  go 
forward  in  the  pathway  of  consecrated  service, 
believing  that  the  blessing  of  the  past  is  but  a  fore- 
taste of  the  greater  blessing  to  come,  and  made  the 
surer  of  realization  by  reason  of  the  labours  of 
those  who,  "  through  faith  and  patience,  now  in- 
herit the  promises."  The  Word  of  the  Lord  stand- 
eth  sure,  and  in  spreading  its  use  throughout  al- 
most the  whole  world  these  two  consecrated  men 
did,  possibly,  as  much  as  any  two  men  of  their 
time  and  generation  to  bring  to  those  who  sat  in 
darkness  the  radiance  of  a  great  light,  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  as  it  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord. 


VI 

THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM 

IN  this  final  chapter,  I  desire  to  set  down  my 
own  personal  impressions  of  a  man  who,  to 
a  degree  far  beyond  what  I  deemed  my 
capacity  for  the  practice  and  exercise  of  such 
virtues,  held  securely  my  affection  and  regard. 
"  Charlie "  Alexander  had  his  shortcomings. 
That,  of  course.  But  he  had  fewer  than  most 
men,  and — ^here's  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter: 
If  a  man  do  fine,  laudable  work  in  the  Master's 
service,  appraise  him  from,  and  by  that.  And 
"  Charlie  "  Alexander  did  enough  splendid  work 
in  his  comparatively  short  life  to  make  one  for- 
get every  single  limitation  of  the  flesh  he  ever 
displayed. 

During  the  seventeen  years  I  knew  him  I  was 
never  able  to  detect  any  perceptible  change  in 
him.  One  could  meet  him  after  the  interval  of 
a  year,  or  that  of  a  day — it  was  all  the  same.  He 
was  just  "  Charlie "  Alexander,  with  pulsing 
heart,  hearty  voice  and  winning  smile. 

He  possessed  the  art  of  making  people  talk 
about  themselves — -without  sophistry  or  veneer. 

88 


THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM  89 

He  could  ask  the  most  direct  question  without 
raising  a  ripple  of  resentment.  And  it  was  due 
in  no  small  measure  to  his  amazing  frankness 
and  his  unerring  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
that  he  could  do  almost  anything  he  pleased 
with  a  single  individual,  a  company  of  ten  or 
an  audience  of  ten  thousand.  Who  but  he 
could  scold  a  vast  throng  into  singing  their 
heads  off,  or  persuade  a  timid  child  to  face  a 
sea  of  strange  faces  and  sing  a  trembling,  little 
solo? 

He  was  the  finest  master  of  appropriate  ges- 
ture I  ever  saw.  At  times  I  imagined  him  as 
being  entirely  unconscious  of  how  wonderfully 
well  he  did  this  part  of  his  work.  In  watching 
him,  I  was,  more  than  once,  reminded  of  the 
reply  made  by  a  well-known  artist  to  a  lady  who 
had  asked  him  how  she  should  arrange  the  fur- 
niture in  her  drawing-room? 

"  Don't  arrange  it  at  all,  madam,"  he  repHed, 
"  just  let  it  occur/' 

I  am  quite  sure  that  he  realized  that  the 
essential  thing  about  gesture  is  that  it  should 
mean  something.  Never,  so  far  as  I  could  dis- 
cover, was  he  ever  obsessed  by  the  illusion  that 
he  was  supposed  to  wave  his  hands  about  aim- 
lessly, simply  because  they  happened  to  exist  at 
the  end  of  his  arms,  like  two  flags,  and  that 
something  or  other  had  to  be  done  with  them. 
He  seemed  always  impelled  by  the  desire  that 


90  THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM 

his  message  should  be  felt,  and  regarded  his 
gestures  as  what  one  might  call  the  ornaments 
of  delivery. 

I  never  suspected  him  of  being  a  student  of 
dramatic  or  histrionic  art.  In  spite  of  the  pic- 
turesque, the  inimitable,  way  he  went  about  his 
work,  one  felt  that  with  him  it  was,  after  all,  a 
plain  business.  He  was  not  playing  a  part,  or 
acting  a  piece.  He  was  presenting  a  case.  And 
present  it  he  did,  at  once  sincerely  and  uniquely. 
Alexander  was  a  perpetual  fulfilment  of  Shakes- 
peare's famous  injunction: 

This  above  all:  to  thine  own  self  he  true, 
And  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day. 
Thou  canst  not  then  he  false  to  any  man, 

I  believe,  furtherm.ore,  that  with  the  great 
Apostle,  Mr.  Alexander  never  failed  to  realize 
that  the  aim,  burden,  and  purpose  of  his  min- 
istry was  to  *'  persuade  men."  He  had  some- 
thing to  say  to  them,  something  to  sing  to  them, 
something  that  made  them  ashamed  of  the  sort  of 
life  they  were  living,  and  wishful  to  seek  grace  to 
abandon  it  for  a  better  one.  He  saw  every  man, 
every  woman,  as  the  object  of  the  strife  of  two 
worlds,  and  strove  to  fling  his  own  personality  into 
that  end  of  the  scale  which  held  the  divine  influ- 
ences, so  that  the  final  decision  might  be  for 
eternal  life. 

He  laboured,  too,  to  keep  men  "  sunny."     He 


THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM  91 

had  caught  something  of  the  spirit  which 
possessed  that  great-souled  preacher,  the  late 
Charles  Silvester  Home.  A  well-known  Eng- 
lish novelist  once  congratulated  Home  on,  as 
he  was  condescending  enough  to  say,  brighten- 
ing up  Tottenham  Court  Road. 

"  Your  evening  service,"  said  the  novelist,  "  is 
almost  as  interesting  as  a  theatre." 

"  Sir,"  replied  Home,  "  if  I  could  not  make 
my  evening  service  very  much  more  interesting 
than  any  theatre  in  London,  I  would  not  hold  it 
at  all!" 

Charles  Alexander  possessed  an  unfailing 
fund  of  genuine,  legitimate  humour.  Like  some 
of  the  great  princes  of  the  English  pulpit — 
Spurgeon,  Parker,  Maclaren — he  was  never 
afraid  of  rippling  faces  into  smiles.  Yet  none 
save  the  preternaturally  solemn — people  who 
confuse  dullness  with  decorum — were  ever 
shocked,  or  even  annoyed,  at  what  he  said  or 
did.  Nor  could  the  most  precise  in  his  audiences 
ever  charge  him  with  mere  buffoonery,  or  the 
lending  of  himself  to  common,  vulgar  quips  or 
vaudevillian  antics.  With  keener  insight  than 
most,  whose  vocation  it  is  to  proclaim  the  Good 
News,  either  by  sermon  or  song,  Alexander  real- 
ized that  a  touch  of  wholesome  humour  spelled 
humanity  in  the  messenger,  an  intellectual 
sanity,  a  sense  of  proportion;  that  it  meant  (or 


92  THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM 

should  mean)  that  he  knows  he  is  on  the  win- 
ning side — proclaiming  the  Gospel  of  One  who 
can  never  suffer  defeat. 

Everywhere  he  ministered,  he  did  something  to 
remove  the  impression,  all  too  commonly  created 
and  held,  that  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ  are  a 
folk  few  and  feeble,  struggling  on  lugubriously 
against  overwhelming  difficulties.  He  contrived  to 
get  something  of  the  old  Hebrew  Psalmist's  sense 
of  "  joy  and  gladness  "  into  all  his  service  for  his 
Master,  and  came  to  regard  and  utilize  humour  as 
a  means  of  grace.  And  why  not?  Why  let  the 
devil  have  all  the  humour,  as  General  Booth  said 
he  had  the  songs  ? 

Why  should  the  children  of  a  King 
Go  mourning  all  their  days? 

Whenever  and  wherever  I  saw  him  at  work, 
Alexander  seemed  to  be  ever  striving  to  get  at  the 
inside  of  people's  minds,  in  order  that  he  could  help 
them,  and  by  means  and  lines  along  which  they 
were  most  accessible.  He  possessed,  in  his  way, 
the  principles  of  splendid  opportunism.  He  knew, 
as  well  as  any  man  of  his  time,  that  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  is  susceptible  of  infinite  adaptations  to 
every  variety  of  the  human  mind.  Of  course, 
when  he  told  it  to  little  children  (and  I  have  seen 
him  handle  large  groups  in  simply  faultless  fash- 
ion), he  did  not  present  it  by  the  same  methods, 
or  in  the  same  language,  as  when  facing  great 


THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM  93 

audiences  of  grown,  and  largely  critical  minds. 
And  yet,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  he  was  always 
the  same.  He  realized  that  to  the  child  and  the 
mature  thinker  (when  the  latter  is  sincere  as  the 
former  ahvays  is)  that  in  its  essence  the  Gospel  is 
exactly  alike.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  knew 
of  that  saying  of  John  Ruskin,  who  once  declared 
that  *'  what  a  little  child  cannot  understand  of 
Christianity  nobody  else  need  try  to,'*  but  he  acted 
as  if  he  did,  and  achieved  great  results  accordingly. 

And  right  to  the  end,  "Charlie"  Alexander, him- 
self, remained  a  sort  of  fascinating,  happy  child. 
Do  not,  I  pray  you,  misunderstand  me.  He  was 
never  childish,  but  childlike.  He  seemed  to  look 
out  on  life  with  a  child's  simplicity  and  singleness 
of  eye,  but  with  a  grown  man's  shrewd  understand- 
ing. This  rare  combination  formed  no  small  part 
of  the  powers  he  exercised  over  all  who  knew  him, 
or  who  came  under  the  spell  of  his  wonderful  per- 
sonality. Everybody  loved  him.  If  he  had  so- 
journed in  hell  itself  the  devils  themselves  would 
have  loved  him,  and,  thereby,  he  would  have  turned 
it  into  a  very  heaven  while  he  stayed. 

But  the  abode  of  the  ransomed — the  blood- 
washed — was  his  own  place,  and  he  went  to  it,  at 
the  last,  with  the  same  unaffected  delight  that  he 
went  to  any  new  and  joyous  scene  of  worship  and 
service  on  earth.  Beyond  any  shadow  or  scintilla 
of  a  doubt,  Charles  Alexander  has  entered  into  the 
joy  of  his  Lord. 


94  THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM 

As  one  thinks  of  his  passing,  he  cannot  fail  of 
being  reminded  of  the  fact  that  nothing  is  so  defi- 
nitely asserted  in  the  New  Testament  as  the  sublime 
promise  of  Heaven.  There  is  little  enough  about 
immortality  (it  takes  that  for  granted),  but  it  has 
much  to  say  about  that  Blessed  Home  of  the  Soul, 
sweetly  associated  with  so  many  of  Alexander's 
famous  Gospel  songs. 

"  To  die  is  gain  " — that  is  the  Christian  message, 
an  asseveration  of  great  joy.  The  things  of  the 
world — ills,  sorrows,  losses,  defeats — are  as  noth- 
ing to  the  glory  that  awaits  the  believer.  These 
drop  off  as  a  dream  that  is  gone — unremembered 
when  the  sun  is  risen. 

''  When  by  His  grace,  I  shall  look  on  His  face — 
That  will  he  glory — he  glory  for  me  J' 

In  the  glowing  poetry  of  the  Book  of  Revelation, 
the  fact  of  victory,  reward,  increased  joy,  crown- 
ing, stands  out  on  almost  every  page.  The  Chris- 
tian becomes  a  ruler  with  God ;  he  has  the  morning 
stars  in  his  hand,  jewels  upon  his  breast,  God's 
Name  on  his  forehead.  He  walks  golden  streets 
surrounded  by  walls  of  jasper  which  are  entered 
through  gates  of  pearl.  All  this  beautiful  imagery 
is  but  John's  way  of  saying  that  the  Christian's 
death  means  gain,  enrichment,  enlargement,  the 
passing  from  a  lesser  to  a  greater  glory.  Into  this 
eternal  heritage,  Charles  Alexander,  our  "  brother 
beloved,"  has  passed  gloriously,  to  go  no  more  out 


THE  MAN  AS  I  SAW  HIM  95 

for  ever.  One  cannot  think  of  him  as  having 
ceased  his  ministry.  In  a  fuller,  richer  fashion 
than  at  any  time  on  this  earth,  he  is  developing, 
and  will  continue  to  develop,  the  gifts  he  used  so 
faithfully  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  of  song: 
"  Thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things." 

And  as,  in  scenes  of  glory. 

He  sings  the  nezv,  new  Song — 

'Tis  but  the  old,  old  Story, 
That  he  had  loved  so  long. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


Date  Due 

Mv  y    '38 

— *^""' 

^ 

Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1012  01036  0768 


